Dinosaur Skeleton Sells for $2.3 Million
The skeleton of an extremely rare kind of dinosaur has sold for $2.3 million in Paris, France.
The 150-million-year-old bones sold during an auction on June 4 at the city’s famous Eiffel Tower. The company holding the auction said the buyer was a French art collector.
The skeleton is described as about 70 percent complete. The bones were discovered five years ago in the American state of Wyoming.
Scientists recognized the skeleton as belonging to a large, meat-eating dinosaur. But it has not been identified as a specific kind. Some scientists have said they believe it could be a new species.
The private sale of the fossil drew criticism from some scientific groups and individuals. Before the auction, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology wrote a letter to the auction company sharing its concerns.
The organization said it recognized that the fossil was legally collected and exported to France. But it added that scientifically important objects, such as fossils, should belong to the public.
The society argued that major discoveries sold into private collections could become lost to science. That is because there is no guarantee that privately held pieces will be open to all scientists for research purposes, the organization said.
Speaking to Reuters, auction official Claude Aguttes said the buyer had told him he considers the skeleton to be “amazing” and plans to “present it to the public."
“Everyone will be able to see it, it will soon be lent to a museum,” Aguttes said. “It will be studied by scientists, everything is perfect.”
