Apr 19, 2023
BY: Natasha SinghTyrannosaurus Rex is a creature that roamed the Earth 67 million years ago.
Image Source: AFP
The skeleton of a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex was sold for $6.13 million, less than expected, in Zurich.
Image Source: AFP
TRX-293 TRINITY is a composite skeleton of 293 bones from three different T-Rexs found between 2008 and 2023 in the US states of Montana and Wyoming.
Image Source: AFP
It measures 3.9 metres (12.8 feet) high and 11.6 metres (38.1 feet) long.
Image Source: AFP
It was the first time in Europe that an entire T-Rex skeleton of exceptional quality was offered at auction, Koller, Switzerland's largest auction house.
Image Source: AP
An undisclosed buyer offered the winning bid of 4.8 million Swiss francs, less than the 5 million to 8 million Swiss francs estimate, but the total price was higher with the buyer's premium and fees at Koller Auctions.
Image Source: AFP
Two other T-Rex models discovered in North America, called Sue and Stan, were sold for $8.4 million and $31 million respectively in 1998 and 2020.
Image Source: AFP
More than half of the skeleton's bones are original. The rest are replacements made from plaster and epoxy resin casts.
Image Source: AFP
Experts have warned such trade could be harmful to science by putting the specimens in private hands and out of the reach of researchers.
Image Source: AP
Including the “buyer's premium” and fees, the sale came to 5.5 million Swiss francs (about $6.1 million).
Image Source: Reuters
“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. “It's a fair price for the dino. I hope it's going to be shown somewhere in public.”
Image Source: Reuters
Two years ago, a triceratops skeleton that the Guinness World Records declared as the world's biggest, known as “Big John,” was sold for 6.6 million euros ($7.2 million) to a private collector at a Paris auction.
Image Source: Reuters
The two areas the bones for Trinity came from were also the source of other T. rex skeletons that were auctioned off.
Image Source: Reuters
The auction house said the skull was particularly rare and also remarkably well-preserved.
Image Source: Reuters
A model of a dinosaur is seen during an auction of auction house Koller, for the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex named Trinity.
Image Source: Reuters
Thanks For Reading!