Gigantic Triceratops skeleton, Big John sold for $7.7mn to American private collector

The world's largest known triceratops called Big John was sold for a whopping $7.7 million in an auction in Paris. The hammer bid was made by an American private collector on Thursday, October 21 at the auction hosted by Drouot. The spokesperson for the anonymous bidder told the press that the latter was "absolutely thrilled" to add such a "piece" to his personal collection.

The Naturalia auction was organised by Maître Alexandre Giquello, under the expertise of lacopo Briano at the Drouot auction house. The specimen of the said 66 million years old gigantic skeleton outbid the previous sale value for the previous fossilised dinosaur remains, the website mentioned. As per the website, the hosts expected the bid for the prehistoric fossilised remains of Big John would run somewhere between $1.4 million to $1.7 million, however, onsite and online bidders raised the bar to a massive amount. Talking about the hammer bid, auctioneer Giquello said that "it's a record for Europe," the Associated Press reported.

Triceratops is 'miracle of nature'

As per the Drouot website, BigJohn was particularly unique due to its almost complete structure. In its entirety, Big John was 60% complete, with the skull having at least 75% intact skeletal structure, which is both a "miracle of nature" and "work of art", Drouot mentioned. The choice of setting to exhibit the exotic herbivore fossil was inspired by the Wall Street sculpture of Arturo Di Modica, which is a bronze bull symbolising strength of the market, the website said.

This fossilised dinosaur was discovered by geologist Walter W. Stein in May 2014 and completely excavated by 2015. As per the website, this Triceratops had a laceration in its collar, proving that it was a part of a duel during which it might have sustained injuries. Big John lived in Laramidia, an island continent stretching from Alaska to Mexico, Drouot said. "He died in an ancient flood plain - the current Hell Creek geological formation (South Dakota, United States) - allowing the conservation of his skeleton in mud, a sediment devoid of any biological activity," the website wrote.

What is Triceratops?

According to Drouot, the "iconic" Triceratops stands apart from its peers due to the shape and size of the skull, which is 2.62m long and 2m wide respectively. Its body forms like a natural armour, consisting of a broad, bony, defensive collar and three long attacking horns. Its largest horns are 1.1m long and over 30com wide at its base. The horns are located above the eye and between the nostrils and are capable of withstanding 16 tons of pressure. This enabled the massive herbivore dinosaur to skewer the enemy in a battle.

Image: @DrouotAuctionHouse