Palaeontology

Allosaurus skeleton to fetch $1M at auction

By T.K. Randall
September 13, 2015 ·  4 comments

An adult Allosaurus could grow up to 43ft in length. Image Credit: CC BY 2.0 daveynin The near-complete skeleton, which belonged to a juvenile Allosaurus, is believed to date back 150 million years and is estimated to be worth somewhere in the region of $1 million.

Originally discovered at a quarry in Wyoming, the prehistoric carnivore skeleton is one of the most complete Allosaurus specimens ever found with its articulated jaw and teeth still mostly intact.

"The Allosaurus, together with the T-Rex, had become the quintessentially large, carnivorous dinosaur in western popular culture," said Rupert van der Werff of Summers Palace Auctions."Given the size of this Allosaurus it also adds the cute factor and may not just attract interest from museums but could also be the wow factor in a luxurious living room."

At 9ft long the skeleton would require a large living room indeed however a museum or other scientific or educational establishment would certainly seem a more appropriate place for it.

"It's half the size of an adult, so it's more manageable and would fit in a lot of homes, as well as private institutions," said van der Werff. "We could see it going to either a museum or a collector."

Anyone with $1M to spare can attempt to bid on the specimen in the UK on November 25th.

Source: Inquisitr.com | Comments (4)

Tags: Allosaurus, Dinosaur