Hollywood movies such as the blockbuster "Jurassic Park" franchise have added to the public fascination with the carnivorous creature. A study published two years ago in the journal Science estimated that about 2.5 billion of the dinosaurs had lived. rex roamed the Earth between 65 million and 67 million years ago. "But here we have truly original Tyrannosaurus skull bones that all originate from the same specimen." In fact, most dinosaurs are found without their skulls," Nils Knoetschke, a scientific adviser who was quoted in the auction catalog. "When dinosaurs died in the Jurassic or Cretaceous periods, they often lost their heads during deposition ]of the remains into rocks]. The auction house said the skull was particularly rare and also remarkably well-preserved. Koller said "original bone material" comprised more than half of the restored skeleton. rex, dubbed "Trinity," was built from specimens retrieved from three sites in the Hell Creek and Lance Creek formations of Montana and Wyoming between 20. Including the "buyer's premium" and fees, the sale came to 5.5 million Swiss francs (about $6.1 million), Koller said.Ī picture of "Trinity" is seen during sale of the skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus rex by Koller auction house in Zurich, on April 18, 2023. Green did not immediately identify the buyer. I hope it's going to be shown somewhere in public." "It could be that it was a composite - that could be why the purists didn't go for it," Karl Green, the auction house's marketing director, said by phone. The composite skeleton was a showpiece of an auction that featured some 70 lots, and the skull was set up next to the auctioneer's podium throughout.
rex skeleton would go up for auction in Europe. Koller had said Tuesday's sale would be the first time such a T. rex skeleton measuring 11.6 meters long (38 feet long) and 3.9 meters high (12.8 feet) high came in under the anticipated range of 5 million to 8 million francs when it went under the hammer at the Koller auction house in Zurich. Link also said he would like to see a museum snap up Trinity, adding that several had already voiced interest.Nearly 300 Tyrannosaurus rex bones that were dug up from three sites in the United States and assembled into a single skeleton sold at Tuesday at a Switzerland auction for 4.8 million francs ($5.3 million), below the expected price.Ĭrafted into an open-mouth pose, the T. "The Zurich auction is therefore an exceptional opportunity to acquire such a fossil of the highest quality," it said in a statement. Koller noted "the rare skeletons of adult T-Rex specimens which have been unearthed are almost all now in institutional collections." The skeleton was provided by a "private individual", and had been flown in nine large crates to Switzerland, for reassembly, Link said.Īuction sales of dinosaur skeletons and other fossils have raked in tens of millions of dollars in recent years, but experts have warned the trade could be harmful to science by putting the specimens in private hands and out of the reach of researchers. Trinity's skull meanwhile is "incredibly well-preserved" and comes from a single T-Rex specimen, according to Koller. Just over half of the bone material in the skeleton comes from the three Tyrannosaurus specimens, he said. Link said Koller was intent on being open and transparent about the origins of the bones that make up Trinity. Last year, Christie's withdrew another T-Rex skeleton - also excavated from Montana - days before it went to auction in Hong Kong, after doubts were reportedly raised about parts of the skeleton. The two sites are known for the discoveries of two other significant T-Rex skeletons that have gone to auction: Sue went under the hammer in 1997 for $8.4 million, and Stan, which took the world-record hammer price of $31.8 million at Christie's, in 2020. They were excavated between 20 from the Hell Creek and Lance Creek formations in Montana and Wyoming in the United States, the auction catalogue said. The Trinity skeleton is made up of bone material from three T-Rex specimens. Koller pointed to a 2021 study in the scientific journal Nature indicating that only 32 skeletons of adult T-Rex's - one of the largest terrestrial predators ever to walk the Earth - had been found worldwide. The sale would mark "the first time in Europe and only the third time worldwide (that) a skeleton of an entire T-Rex dinosaur of exceptional quality will be offered at auction". Trinity is "one of the most spectacular T-Rex skeletons in existence, a well-preserved and brilliantly restored fossil," the auction house said. But Christian Link, in charge of natural history memorabilia at Koller, told AFP he believed that was a "very low estimate".
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