Photos: Remains of 'Big John', largest known triceratops, sells for $7.7 million

Auction house had estimated the skeleton would fetch between 1.2-1.5 million euros

Last updated: October 21, 2021 | 15:31

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Paris: A private, anonymous US collector bought the fossilised remains of 'Big John', the largest triceratops dinosaur ever discovered by paleontologists, for 6.65 million euros ($7.74 million) at a Paris auction on Thursday.

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Big John - named after the owner of the land where the dinosaur's bones were found - roamed modern-day South Dakota more than 66 million years ago.

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"It's being acquired by an American collector, and that individual is absolutely thrilled with the idea of being able to bring a piece like this to his personal use," said Djuan Rivers, a representative for the buyer.

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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.

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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.

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The skull showed a traumatic lesion, which researchers said was likely the work of another triceratops striking it from behind.

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"The history behind this and the curation of it is absolutely impressive, so to be able to be a part of preserving something of this nature that was actually found in the US, in South Dakota, is also something extremely special," Rivers said.

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Big John, the largest known triceratops skeleton, is being assembled in a showroom in Paris.

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The name triceratops means "three-horned face".

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The hammer price at the Drouot auction house, before commission and other costs, was 5.5 million euros. Drouot had estimated the skeleton would fetch between 1.2-1.5 million euros. It sold to an unidentified private US buyer.

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"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."

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Auctioneer Alexandre Giquello poses in front of Big John. Auction house Christie's sold a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton for $31.8 million in New York last year.

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