It lived more than 70 million years ago and looked similar to Tyrannosaurus rex. At an auction, a princely sum was offered for the skeleton of a Gorgosaurus.
New York – The skeleton of a Gorgosaurus has been auctioned in New York for around six million dollars. It fetched $6.1 million at auction on Thursday, auction house Sotheby’s said.
It was not initially announced who bought the skeleton, which was around three meters high and almost seven meters long, which was discovered in 2018 in the US state of Montana. According to the auction house, it was the first skeleton of such a dinosaur ever to be offered for auction.
The Gorgosaurus, believed to have lived more than 70 million years ago, was related to and resembled the Tyrannosaurus rex, scientists say, but was significantly smaller. Most of the Gorgosaurus fossils have been found in Canada, and all remains found so far are in public collections.
A skeleton of the dinosaur species Deinonychus antirrhopus was auctioned in New York in May for around twelve million dollars. In 2020, a skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex fetched more than $30 million. However, many experts are critical of the auction of scientifically valuable skeletons. dpa
