The skeleton of a 22-meter-long apatosaurus, a giant herbivorous dinosaur, sold for six million euros ($6.4 million) on Saturday, setting a new record for the highest-priced dinosaur skeleton ever sold at auction.
Auction houses Collin du Bocage and Barbarossa confirmed that an anonymous collector secured the rare fossil for 4.7 million euros, with the total price reaching 6 million euros after additional costs.
Discovered in Wyoming, USA, the fossil is estimated to be 150 million years old and is composed of 75 to 80 percent of the original bones. The buyer has pledged to loan the skeleton to a museum, allowing public access to the impressive find. "We are happy that the buyer intends to lend it to an institution," said Olivier Collin du Bocage, one of the auction organizers.
The apatosaurus, nicknamed "Vulcan," was excavated between 2019 and 2021, with restoration work carried out over two years in France at the Paleomoove Laboratory in Luberon. The skeleton, which originally weighed around 20 tonnes, was showcased in the orangerie of Dampierre-en-Yvelines, a chateau located 50 kilometers southwest of Paris.
This rare find is the largest dinosaur skeleton ever auctioned globally, according to auctioneers Barbarossa. The fossil includes 300 bones and had a presale estimate of between three and five million euros. As part of the sale agreement, the future owner has committed to allowing paleontologists access to the skeleton for study purposes.
Discovered through legal excavation permits in the U.S., the sale of the apatosaurus represents a significant milestone in the field of paleontology and fossil auctions.
