The skeleton of a 67 million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex was sold in Europe for 5.55 million Swiss francs, or about $6.2 million.
The specimen, 38-feet long and 12.8-feet tall, was described as ''one of the most spectacular T. rex skeletons in existence'," according to the BBC.
The skeleton, named "293 Trinity," is built from 293 bones from three different T. rexes retrieved from 2008 to 2013 at sites in Montana and Wyoming. Notable with this particular skeleton is that more than half of it is real bone — a relatively high percentage considering that most auctioned dinosaur skeletons are made up partly of casts or replacements.
The specimen was sold at the Koller auction house in Zurich. Dr. Hans-Jakob Siber of The Aathal Dinosaur Museum in Switzerland described Trinity as a "special beast."
"There are only 20 or 30 good T. rex skeletons in the world, and this is one of the bigger and better ones," he said, according to the BBC.
A private individual bought the specimen, which will remain in Europe, a spokesperson for the auction house said. It's unclear what the owner's plans are for the skeleton. Koller hopes it will go on public display.
The topic of dinosaur fossils ending up in private collections is one of controversy. Professor Steve Brusatte, a dinosaur expert at Edinburgh University, expressed concerns about the number of dinosaur specimens landing in private hands.
"Most museums can't compete with the deep pockets of the oligarchs and the super rich," he told BBC. "What worries me is that these very rare dinosaur skeletons, which are scientifically very valuable and are important for education and public engagement, disappear into the vaults of private collectors, which means that they are not available for public display."
Dr. Dennis Hansen of the Zoological Museum in Zurich, however, believes that many of the dinosaur specimens that are privately owned will end up being available to the public.
"I see it the same way as art. Art historians would like every single important painting to be available in the public realm, but experience shows that sooner or later it ends up in the public domain," he said.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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