World’s largest triceratops Skeleton, ‘Big John’ sells for $7.7 million
Paleontologists discovered the world’s largest Triceratops skeleton in 2015 which is nicknamed “Big John”, the super-sized specimen of Triceratops horridus. The largest known triceratops now sold for $7.7 million at Paris auction on October 21. Dinosaur got its name triceratops which means “three-horned face”.
At the Drouot auction house in Paris, ‘Big John’ was presented with a treasure trove of fossils, meteorites, and other natural artifacts. An American collector acquired the fossiled remains of Big john’ and the buyer is absolutely thrilled with the idea of being able to bring a piece like this to his personal use, said one of the representatives.
The skeleton was first discovered in South Dakota by geologist Walter W. Stein Bill in 2014 and a 9-foot-long skull that stretches just over six-and-a-half feet wide measures 7.15 m (23 ft 5 in) long from snout to tail tip – almost twice the length of a white rhino. It stands 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in) tall measured at the hips. Moreover, the Skelton is more than 60% complete.
History showed that the dinosaur lived in Laramidia which is an ancient continent that, today, would have stretched between Alaska and Mexico. It was found that the dinosaur skulls are an Evolutionary success and some of the “most striking” of all land animals and the curation of it was absolutely impressive.
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The true size of the dinosaur was seen by Archeologists after excavation of the skeleton, and the mud-filled dinosaur remains were restored in Italy later. “It’s a record for Europe,” said auctioneer Alexandre Giquello, who described exponential growth in the relatively new market of dinosaur fossils. “We’re creating a market.”
