Published 18:25 IST, October 7th 2020
Jurassic world's T-Rex fossil auctioned for record $31.8 million in New York
New York's Christie auction house sold one of the most complete skeleton set of a tyrannosaurus for more than $31 million, the highest ever bid for a specimen.
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New York's Christie auction house sold one of the most complete skeleton set of a tyrannosaurus for more than $31 million, the highest ever bid for a specimen of any animal in the world. The previous record was set by a specimen named 'Sue' that was sold by Sotheby auction house for $8.4 million to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago in 1997. The latest record set by the specimen called 'Stan' opened with a bidding price of six million dollars and reached nine million dollars in less than a minute.
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'Stan' fossil
Bidders were bidding online from London and Hong Kong as well and the final hammer price for the T-rex skeleton was fixed at $27.5 million. The specimen will go for $31.8 million as it will be sold with added costs and commissions. 'Stan' was discovered in 1987 in South Dakota and would have been in its 20s when it was alive some 67 million years ago. The specimen was named after Stan Sacrison, an amateur paleontologist who discovered it.
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'Stan' is one of the only 50 tyrannosaurus specimens that have been found so far across the world since 1902. When 'Stan' was discovered, scientists from Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in South Dakota spent more than 3 years to carefully excavate the 188 bones of the tyrannosaurus, which were then cast by several museums from across the world for displaying the T-rex. However, the latest buyer of Stan's specimen is not allowed to create a 3D model of the tyrannosaurus.
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According to Christie’s, more than 30 years after ‘Stan’s’ discovery, the dinosaur is recognised and revered as a scientific and cultural sensation. The T-rex is believed to be the most viewed and widely exhibited dinosaur of all time. Moreover, ‘Stan’ is also notable for two fused vertebrae scientists have identified in his neck, suggesting the dinosaur broke his neck and survived during his lifetime.
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18:25 IST, October 7th 2020