The auction house Giquello wants to auction the world’s largest known specimen of a Triceratops in Paris in October. The two-meter-wide skull, around 200 bones and the large horns were assembled on Tuesday in showrooms in the Marais district of the French capital. There dinosaur fans can admire “Big John” before it is auctioned on October 21st.
The eight-meter-long skeleton of the herbivore with the strange ruff and its three horns is around 66 million years old and was discovered in 2004 in the US state of South Dakota. More than 60 percent of it is preserved, including a large part of the skull. The fossil was restored in Trieste, Italy and, according to auctioneer Alexandre Giquello, has an export license.
T-Rex sold for $ 31.8 million
It is the first time that “Big John” has been auctioned. Before that, it will be shown in the showrooms of the Hôtel Drouot from October 18-20. “We have about ten possible buyers for this Triceratops,” said auctioneer Giquello of the AFP news agency. He estimates that “Big John” will find a buyer for 1.2 to 1.5 million euros.
The previous record price for a dinosaur was achieved by the skeleton of a 67 million year old Tyrannosaurus Rex: T-Rex “Stan” was auctioned in New York last October for 31.8 million dollars; the auction house Christie’s had expected bids between six and eight million dollars. (AFP)