Auction houses Collin du Bocage et Barbarossa sold the Vulcan apatosaurus skeleton for nearly six million euros. The dinosaur is exhibited at the castle of Dampierre-en-Yvelines since July 13. The exhibition has attracted nearly 40,000 visitors since this summer, closing its doors on November 3, in preparation for the sale.
“This discovery may change our understanding of dinosaur evolution and classification“, had underlined Christian Fothpaleontologist and researcher at the University of Rostock.
It's the teacher Eric Mickelerformer consultant to Sotheby's and Christie's, who appraised it. Today he is curator of the Dinosaur Museum in Prague. The only apatosaurus exhibited until today is at New York Museum of Natural History and is made up of bones from four different dinosaurs.
A 150 million year old herbivore
“Remarkable for its incredible size (20.50 m), its almost perfect completeness (more than 80% of its native bones) and its excellent level of preservation, this herbivore giant old 150 million years was acquired in the room by the representative of a collector who wishes to entrust it to a museum”, specify the French auction houses.
According to Olivier Collin du Bocageauctioneer, this auction is one of the highest made for a dinosaur skeleton in France. The Apex Stegosaurus was awarded for 44.6 million eurosthe T-Rex Stan for 31.8 million euros, the Raptor 12.4 million dollars, the T-Rex Sue for 8.4 million dollars, and the triceratops Big John for 6.6 million euros .
“We are satisfied that the buyer intends to lend it to an institution. We will know more soon”, explained Olivier Collin du Bocage.
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