A complete skeleton of Gorgosaurus, a species of dinosaur cousin to the T-Rex that lived more than 77 million years ago, has sold for nearly $6.1 million at auction at Sotheby’s in New York, the company announced.
Ce prix (6,069,500 dollars) in fact “l’un des dinosaures les plus chers jamais vendus aux enchères”, according to Sotheby’s, even if it is located très loin du Tyrannosaurus Rex, awarded in 2020 for 31.8 million dollars In New York.
The Gorgosaurus specimen, almost 3 meters high and 6.7 meters long, was discovered in 2018 in the Judith River geological formation, in the state of Montana, and since then it has remained in private hands. The auction house estimated it at between $5 million and $8 million, noting its “remarkable condition.”
Extinct about 77 million years ago
A member, like the T-Rex, of the family Tyrannosauridae, Gorgosaurus (“ferocious lizard”) lived during the Late Cretaceous period and became extinct about 77 million years ago.
“Almost all Gorgosaurus specimens that have been found are in museums. It is the only one that can be bought”, explained the head of the department of science and popular culture at Sotheby’s, Cassandra Hatton.
Sales that frustrate paleontologists
Sales of dinosaur skeletons now regularly liven up auction evenings, even if it means frustrating paleontologists, who see it as one less chance to put them on display in museums and make them available for scientific research.
In May, still in New York but at Christie’s, a skeleton of Deinonychus antirrhopus, which had inspired the Velociraptor in Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park” (1993), had sold for $12.4 million, expenses included. to an Asian customer.
This price, more than double his estimate, made it the second most expensive auction for a dinosaur skeleton, far from the big star, Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Source: BFM TV
