Do you love paleontology? And do you have upwards of $750,000 dollars laying around? If so, then a Christie’s auction on April 16th in France might be of interest to you. On the bidding block that day will be the complete skeleton of a 65 million year old triceratops. It was found in 2004 by a ranch owner in South Dakota and eventually purchased by a private European collector. More than 70% of the bones are original, while the remaining 30% are made from casts. It is the fourth most complete skeleton of a triceratops ever found.
In all, 150 items from natural history collections — fossils, skeletons and minerals — valued at some 1.6 million euros will be up for auction.
The sabre-toothed tiger skull is expected to fetch up to 45,000 euros, while a set of fossilized giant shark teeth have been valued at up to 4,000 euros.
Christie’s said it hoped to build on the success of last year’s paleontology auction that brought in more than a million euros and established 12 world records.
Also up for bids will be a tyrannosaurus egg, mineralized in agate, valued at between 20,000 and 25,000 euros; and an apatosaurus dinosaur tibia from the Jurassic Period, which is expected to raise up to 30,000 euros.
The last time such a notable dinosaur was on the auction block was in 1997, when a tyrannosaurus rex, named Sue, sold for $8.4 million dollars!
[via Physorg]
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