The fossilised remains of 'Big John', the largest triceratops dinosaur ever discovered by paleontologists, sold for 5.5 million euros ($6.40 million) at a Paris auction on Thursday.
The total price, including commissions, was 6.65 million euros, the Drouot auction house, which conducted the sale, said.
Big John roamed the lands of modern-day South Dakota more than 66 million years ago.
Drouot had estimated the skeleton would fetch between 1.2-1.5 million euros.
The first piece of bone from the supersized skeleton - the skull alone is 2.62 meters long and two meters wide - was found in 2014.
By 2015, paleontologists had unearthed 60% of the skeleton, a rare feat, made of over 200 pieces which were painstakingly put together in Italy, to prepare for the Paris auction.
The skull showed a traumatic lesion, which researchers said was likely the work of another triceratops striking it from behind.
"It's a record for Europe," said auctioneer Alexandre Giquello, who described exponential growth in the relatively new market of dinosaur fossils. "We're creating a market."
Auction house Christie's sold a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton for $31.8 million in New York last year.
