The first skeleton of a Gorgosaurus dinosaur to go up for auction was sold for $6.1 million in a New York auction, according to Sotheby’s, one of the biggest brokers of collectibles in the world.
The specimen is 22 feet long and 10 feet tall, and its estimated price range was $5 million to $8 million.
‘The outcome places the Gorgosaurus among the most valuable dinosaurs ever sold at auction, and establishes a new standard for a Gorgosaurus skeleton,’ Sotheby’s stated in a statement following the auction.
The Gorgosaurus, a distant relative of the notorious and dangerous Tyrannosaurus rex, had a big head, short, two-fingered front limbs, and a mouth full of curved, serrated teeth.
With a stronger bite of around 42,000 newtons compared to 35,000, paleontologists say it was fiercer and faster than the T-Rex.
The fossil trade in the United States is unrestricted, thus the skeleton that was found in Montana four years ago may wind up abroad.
The Gorgosaurus sold today ‘came to auction without a name, offering the bidder with the sole option to name the dinosaur,’ claims Sotheby’s.
Gorgosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaurs that was discovered around 77 million years ago and lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous Period.
The auction was the first time a complete dinosaur skeleton had been offered for auction by Sotheby’s since Sue the T-Rex went for $8.36 million in 1997.
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