![]() rex bones were assembled into a growling posture that measures 11.6 meters long (38 feet long) and 3.9 meters high (12.8 feet high. Credit: Michael Buholzer/Keystone via APĪ model of a dinosaur is seen during an auction of auction house Koller, for the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex named Trinity, in Zurich, Switzerland on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. The skeleton is expected to fetch 5 million to 8 million Swiss francs ($5.6-$8.9 million). ![]() Hollywood movies such as the blockbuster "Jurassic Park" franchise have added to the public fascination with the carnivorous creature.Ĭyril Koller, CEO of auction house Koller, stands next to the head of the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex named Trinity, during an auction in Zurich, Switzerland on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. A study published two years ago in the journal Science estimated that about 2.5 billion of the dinosaurs ever lived. ![]() rex roamed the Earth between 65 million and 67 million years ago. "But here we have truly original Tyrannosaurus skull bones that all originate from the same specimen." In fact, most dinosaurs are found without their skulls," said Nils Knoetschke, a scientific adviser who was quoted in the auction catalog. "When dinosaurs died in the Jurassic or Cretaceous periods, they often lost their heads during deposition (of the remains into rocks). The auction house said the skull was particularly rare and also remarkably well-preserved. Koller said "original bone material" comprised more than half of the restored skeleton. The head of the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex named Trinity, is seen during an auction in Zurich, Switzerland on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. rex, dubbed "Trinity," was built from specimens retrieved from three sites in the Hell Creek and Lance Creek formations of Montana and Wyoming between 20. Green did not identify the buyer, but said it was a "European private collector." Including the "buyer's premium" and fees, the sale came to 5.5 million Swiss francs (about $6.1 million), Koller said. I hope it's going to be shown somewhere in public." "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. The composite skeleton, featuring 293 bones, was a showpiece of an auction that featured some 70 lots, and the skull was set up next to the auctioneer's podium throughout. rex skeleton would go up for auction in Europe. Koller had said Tuesday's sale would be the first time such a T. rex skeleton measuring 11.6 meters long (38 feet long) and 3.9 meters high (12.8 feet) high came in under the anticipated range of 5 million to 8 million francs when it went under the hammer at the Koller auction house in Zurich. He also took issue with auctions of significant dinosaur skeletons and other fossils, which have raked in tens of millions of dollars in recent years.Įxperts have warned such trade could be harmful to science by putting the specimens in private hands and out of the reach of researchers.Crafted into an open-mouth pose, the T. Vertebrate palaeontologist Thomas Holtz – who is against the sale of such specimens Holtz – was sceptical, insisting that Trinity “really isn’t a ‘specimen’ so much as it is an art installation”. Just over half of the bone material in the skeleton comes from the three Tyrannosaurus specimens – above the 50% level needed for experts to consider such a skeleton as high quality. “Sue” went under the hammer in 1997 for $8.4m, before “Stan” took the world-record hammer price of $31.8m at Christie’s in 2020. The sites are known for the discoveries of two other significant T-Rex skeletons that have gone to auction. More than half the skeleton’s bones are original with the rest made from plaster and epoxy resin casts.Īs its name suggests, Trinity is made up of a composite skeleton of 293 bones from three dinosaurs – excavated between 20 from the Hell Creek and Lance Creek formations in Montana and Wyoming. The skeleton measures 3.9 metres high, 11.6 metres long and 2.65 metres wide. “I’m 100% sure we will see Trinity in the future somewhere again,” he said. Koller voiced optimism that although the skeleton had been sold to a private buyer, it would remain on public display. And so more than 30,000 visitors came and admired Trinity a lot of children,” he told AFP. “It was a wonderful auction because we showed Trinity for two-and-a-half weeks in the concert hall in Zurich.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |