Dinosaur skeleton of biggest triceratops likely to fetch Rs 10 crore, check details here

A gigantic triceratops, a herbivorous dinosaur, commonly known as "Big John" is likely to earn a high price in October during an auction in France. The triceratops's skeleton, which dates back over 66 million years, is almost 60% intact. It is considered to be the biggest triceratops ever discovered. It is roughly 26 feet (8 metres) in length, with a 75 percent full cranium which is 6.6 feet (2 metres) broad.  

The enormous fossil would be on exhibit to the audience from September 16 to October 15 in the French auction house Giquello at 13 Rue des Archives in Paris, as per the Giquello officials stated in a statement. The gigantic dinosaur fossil will next make its premiere on October 18 at the auction house Hôtel Drouot in Paris, there it will be sold off on October 21 to the winning bidder with the highest bid as part of Giquello's "Naturalia" auction event. As per the announcement, Big John is likely to sell for between $1.4 million and $1.8 million which is almost 10 crores in Indian currency. 

More about the Triceratops Big John

During the Cretaceous era, frilled, tri-horned triceratops dominated North America between 67 million and 65 million years earlier. Big John existed from what is presently South Dakota which was called Laramidia, an island continent developed after a shallow sea submerged North America's central area during the late Cretaceous era.  

Paleontologist Walter W. Stein, a proprietor of the private commercial paleontology organisation PaleoAdventures in South Dakota, found the specimen in the year 2014. The skeleton was discovered in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming, through the Hell Creek Formation, an old flood basin and a significant fossil deposit. As per the University of California Museum of Paleontology at Berkeley, most of the skeleton deposit is on state and federal grounds. 

As per the research, Big John perished millions of years ago and was buried under a thick layer of muck, allowing his remains to become fossilised. As per the statement, there is a retained scar on his clavicle which indicates the triceratops to be injured during an intense conflict, probably during a battle with another triceratops over mating or territory building. Due to that fight, the other triceratops may have dealt much worse injury as according to officials, Big John has two largest horns which are about 4 feet (1.1 m) long and approximately 1 foot (30 cm) broad at the root which results in sustaining roughly 16 tonnes of strain. 

As per a report of Live Science, previously, other dinosaur skeletons have fetched much higher auction prices than Big John is expected to. A 67-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus called Stan was sold at auction with a record of $31.8 million in October 2020, earning it the most valuable fossil ever.  

(Image Credit: Binoche Et Giquello/ Facebook)