Big John triceratops sold for more than 6 million euros

Big John, the largest triceratops dinosaur ever discovered by paleontologists, sold for 5.5 million euros ($ 6.40 million) at an auction in Paris on Thursday.

The total price, including commissions, amounts to 6.65 million euros, said the Drouot auction house, which carried out the sale.

Drouot had estimated that the skeleton would bring in between 1.2 and 1.5 million euros, but the stakes have skyrocketed.

Museum or private collector, the buyer is not yet known.

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66 million years old

Big John roamed the lands of modern South Dakota over 66 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.

It was then evolving in

, a disappeared continent which stretched from Mexico to Alaska.

The dinosaur has an exceptionally large skull, 2.62 meters long by 2 meters wide, and two large horns 1.1 meters long.

Its death in a floodplain has allowed its excellent conservation over the centuries.

He was indeed buried in the mud, which does not contain any biological activity.

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The dinosaur had been on display for a week at Drouot's.

Its assembly had been possible thanks to work carried out in collaboration with the universities of Bologna and Chieti, as well as a laboratory located in Trieste, in northern Italy.

This sale is part of a trend towards the purchase of fossilized remains of this type by private collectors, preventing public museums from overbidding.