If you are an archaeology enthusiast and are driven by a passion for history and the organisms that lived before us, this article is for you. Chances are that you already have some archaic objects in your collection and will be excited to collect some more. Here is an opportunity to upgrade your collection once and for all.
Recently, the world’s biggest Triceratops skeleton has been made available for auction. If you have a huge room and a handsome amount of money to support the purchase, get ready for the auction scheduled to be held in October.
The skeleton is named Big John. The skulls of Triceratops are the largest of any known land animal on earth, and Big John’s is the biggest of his kind – it’s 2.62 m (8.6 ft) long and 2 m (6.6 ft) wide. His horns are each 1.1 m (3.6 ft) long, and 30 cm (11.8 in) wide at the base. This enables them to tolerate 16 tons of pressure.
The skeleton was excavated in May 2014 in the Hell Creek Formation, which is the area famous for finding the oldest fossil fuels in the United States. He died approximately 66 million years ago in a floodplain. This implies that his body was buried in the mud at once and was preserved for the years to come.
The bones were sent to the Zoic workshop in Trieste, Italy to be restored. Thousands of hours were spent on extracting, cleaning, and cataloging. The specimen is now 60 percent complete, with the skull being 75 percent complete.
On October 21, the skeleton will be the centerpiece of the fifth part of the Naturalia auction, which is being organized by Binoche and Giquello house in Paris. It is estimated that the skeleton will be sold between the range of €1.2 million and €1.5 million (US$1.4 million and $1.77 million). However, more is expected. You can check out the auction at Drouot.
