PARIS (Reuters) -The fossilised remains of ‘Big John’, the largest triceratops dinosaur ever discovered by paleontologists, sold for 6.65 million euros ($7.74 million) at a Paris auction on Thursday.
The hammer price at the Drouot auction house, before commission and other costs, was 5.5 million euros.
Big John roamed the lands of modern-day South Dakota more than 66 million years ago.
Drouot had estimated the skeleton would fetch between 1.2-1.5 million euros.
The first piece of bone from the supersized skeleton – the skull alone is 2.62 meters long and two meters wide – was found in 2014.
By 2015, paleontologists had unearthed 60% of the skeleton, a rare feat, made of over 200 pieces which were painstakingly put together in Italy, to prepare for the Paris auction.
($1 = 0.8589 euros)
(Reporting by Michaela Cabrera and Ingrid Melander; Editing by Mike Collett-White)
