An anonym bought the skeleton of a Triceratops for € 6.65 million

October 22, 2021

An anonymous collector from America won the auction at the Drouot house in Paris. He became the owner of the fossilized remains of the largest known dinosaur, the Triceratops, which was christened Big John.

 

This dinosaur lived in South Dakota more than 66 million years ago and, judging by the wounds, led a busy life. The fossil cost the buyer € 6.65 million, which is almost 4.5 times more expensive than the organizers of the auction expected.

 

The first fragments of Big John's skeleton were found in South Dakota in the United States, Reuters wrote. A year later, 60% of the skeleton and its almost complete skull were found. The skeleton was 8 meters long and is the largest Triceratops ever found.
 

Big John's skull alone is 2.62 m long and 2 m wide. Its horns are 1.1 m long and more than 30 cm wide. They are able to withstand a pressure of 16 tons. In total, the skeleton consists of two hundred bones, which weigh more than 700 kg. Experts who rebuilt the skeleton noted that Big John had an eventful life. This is evidenced by a laceration on his neck, which he could have received in a fight with another Triceratops while defending the territory or courting a female.
 

According to paleontologist Jacopo Briano, who oversaw the restoration of Big John in Italy, they have created a masterpiece that has no analogues in the world, NewsBytes reported.
 

Initially, the auction was planned to bail out € 1.2-1.5 million ($ 1.4-1.8 million) for Big John, but during the auction the price rose to € 6.65 million. This is not a record amount - a month earlier in New -York sold a 67 million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton for $ 31.8 million.
 

Earlier, The Secret wrote that an Englishman named Harry Potter put up for auction the first edition of the book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The rarest copy was presented to him by his father in 1997. Despite the shabby appearance, the book about the young wizard was bought for almost $ 38,000.

 

On October 21, the mansion from "Nightmare on Elm Street" was put up for sale. The owners of the house, which filmed some of the scenes for the 1984 tape, put it up for sale for $ 3.25 million, but the offer remains valid only until the end of Halloween.