World’s largest triceratops skeleton going up for auction could fetch more than $1.4M
The auction house expects the huge dinosaur to sell for between $1.4M and $1.7M
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The world’s largest known triceratops skeleton is going up for auction.
Known as "Big John," the triceratops will be sold by the Drouot auction house in Paris on Oct. 21, according to a press release.
The giant dinosaur fossil is estimated to sell for between $1.4 million (1.2 million euros) and $1.7 million (1.5 million euros), according to the Associated Press.
The outlet reported that the dinosaur will be the centerpiece of the Naturalia auction organized by Alexandre Giquello.
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Reuters reported that the dinosaur’s skull alone is over 8-and-a-half feet (2.62 meters) long and over 6-and-a-half feet (2 meters) wide.
The world's largest known triceratops skeleton -- known as "Big John" – will be sold at auction by the Drouot auction house in Paris on Oct. 21. (Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The dinosaur’s head is almost a third of its whole body, the outlet reported.
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According to Reuters, the first piece of Big John was found in South Dakota by paleontologists in 2014. They were able to unearth 60% of his skeleton – more than 200 bones – including his skull, Reuters reported.
The dinosaur, which walked the earth more than 66 million years ago, received its name from the owner of the land where the bones were found.
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In the past, dinosaur bones were mostly sold to museums, according to Reuters. However, private buyers are becoming more interested in fossils.
"I imagine there are about 10 buyers worldwide for this kind of piece," auctioneer Alexandre Giquello told Reuters.