Make no bones about it: a dinosaur skeleton is one of the rarest and most precious pieces of natural history that one could possibly possess. Well, anyone with a million euros to spare. A dinosaur skeleton named Kan sold for €1.1 million (HK$8.9 million) at a recent sale held by the Aguttes auction house in Lyon, France.
The species was an Allosaurus, a carnivorous predator that lived about 150 million years ago. As one of the most common dinosaurs in North America in the late Jurassic period, it is perhaps no surprise that this particular skeleton was discovered in the western United States in 2013. The skeleton is three-quarters complete and, once assembled, shows the dinosaur in a running position with its mouth open. At 7.5 metres long and 2.5 metres tall, this species was undoubtedly a menace to lowlier lizards when it roamed the Earth. Similar to the Tyrannosaurus rex, the Allosaurus ran on its hind legs and had tiny, three-fingered forelimbs.
The anonymous French buyer said the skeleton will go on public display in France, but the exact location has been kept something of a secret. The sale followed an earlier auction held by Sotheby’s in Paris that saw a dinosaur skeleton sell for €1.3 million.