Remains of 'Big John', largest known triceratops, fetch nearly $8m.
Big John - named after the owner of the land where the dinosaur's bones were found - roamed modern-day South Dakota more than 66 million years ago.
The skeleton of a gigantic Triceratops goes under the hammer at Paris auction house
(photo credit: REUTERS/SARAH MEYSSONNIER)
A private, anonymous collector bought the fossilized remains of 'Big John', the largest triceratops dinosaur ever discovered by paleontologists, for 6.65 million euros ($7.74 million) at a Paris auction on Thursday.
Big John - named after the owner of the land where the dinosaur's bones were found - roamed modern-day South Dakota more than 66 million years ago.
"It's
being acquired by an American collector, and that individual is
absolutely thrilled with the idea of being able to bring a piece like
this to his personal use," said Djuan Rivers, a representative for the
buyer.
The first piece of bone from the supersized skeleton - the skull
alone is 2.62 meters long and two meters wide - was found in 2014.
By
2015, paleontologists had unearthed 60% of the skeleton, a rare feat,
made of over 200 pieces which were painstakingly put together in Italy,
to prepare for the Paris auction.
The skull showed a traumatic lesion, which researchers said was likely the work of another triceratops striking it from behind.
The skeleton of a gigantic Triceratops goes under the hammer at Paris auction house (credit: REUTERS/SARAH MEYSSONNIER)
"The
history behind this and the curation of it is absolutely impressive, so
to be able to be a part of preserving something of this nature that was
actually found in the , in South Dakota, is also something extremely
special," Rivers said.
The name triceratops means "three-horned face."
The
hammer price at the Drouot auction house, before commission and other
costs, was 5.5 million euros. Drouot had estimated the skeleton would
fetch between 1.2-1.5 million euros. It sold to an unidentified private
buyer.
"It's a
record for Europe," said auctioneer Alexandre Giquello, who described
exponential growth in the relatively new market of dinosaur fossils.
"We're creating a market."
Auction house Christie's sold a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton for $31.8 million in New York last year.
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