VIDEO. World's largest triceratops on display in Paris before being auctioned

It is an event for all archeology enthusiasts. "Big John", the largest triceratops ever discovered in the world, over 66 million years old, will be auctioned for the first time, by the Giquello auction house, on October 21 at the Hotel Drouot in Paris. With an 8 m long skeleton, 60% complete (75% just at the level of the head), the dinosaur which lived under the Cretaceous era, can be admired before its sale by the general public. since it will be exhibited from September 16 to October 15 in a gallery rue des Archives (3rd arrondissement), then from October 18 to 21 in the Drouot salons.

Estimated between 1.2 and 1.5 million euros, this unique specimen for this size was discovered in 2014 in the United States, in South Dakota, by geologist Walter W. Stein Bill.

The prehistoric animal lived in Laramidia, an extinct island-continent that stretched from present-day Alaska to Mexico.

His death in a floodplain, probably after a fight as indicated by a laceration near the skull, allowed the skeleton to be preserved in the mud, a sediment without biological activity.

Read alsoDinosaur skeletons are snapped up at a price of gold

"For this triceratops which has a worldwide export license, we have ten possible buyers," said Alexandre Giquello, auctioneer. This sale comes as the craze for dinosaur skeletons continues. Prices even reached record amounts, to the chagrin of museums and research centers, often unable to outbid. Last October, a rare allosaur skeleton, one of the oldest dinosaurs, considered the “grandfather” of the dreaded T-Rex, was auctioned off in Paris to an anonymous bidder at just over 3 million dollars. 'euros, twice the high estimate. A few weeks before, in New York, the skeleton of a 67 million year old T-Rex smashed all records, after being sold for $ 31.8 million,when the initial stake was set between 6 and 8 million dollars.