Very, very old dinosaur puzzle for sale: Triceratops skeleton "Big John" is being auctioned in Paris

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The mighty skull of the Triceratops "Big John" with its strange ruff and long horns

Photo: CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON / EPA

The auction house Giquello wants to auction the world's largest known specimen of a Triceratops in Paris in October.

The two-meter-wide skull, around 200 bones and large horns were put together on Tuesday in showrooms in the Marais district of the French capital.

There dinosaur fans can admire "Big John" before it is auctioned on October 21st.

The eight-meter-long skeleton of the herbivore with the strange ruff and its three horns is around 66 million years old and was discovered in 2004 in the US state of South Dakota.

More than 60 percent of it is preserved, including a large part of the skull.

The fossil was restored in Trieste, Italy and, according to auctioneer Alexandre Giquello, has an export license.

It is the first time that "Big John" is auctioned.

Before that, it will be shown in the showrooms of the Hôtel Drouot from October 18-20.

"We have about ten potential buyers for this Triceratops," auctioneer Giquello told the AFP news agency.

He estimates that "Big John" will find a buyer for 1.2 to 1.5 million euros.

T-Rex "Stan" brought in $ 31.8 million

The previous record price for a dinosaur was achieved by the skeleton of a 67 million year old Tyrannosaurus Rex: T-Rex "Stan" was auctioned for 31.8 million dollars in New York last October.

The auction house Christie's had expected bids between six and eight million dollars.

The skeleton, also discovered in South Dakota in 1987, is one of the most complete specimens of the Tyrannosaurus rex ever found.

Paleontologists spent more than three years excavating and reconstructing the 188 bones.

According to estimates by the researchers, "Stan" died around 60 million years ago at the age of around 20.

The find served as a template for various dinosaur replicas set up in museums.

Only around 50 skeletons of the T-Rex have been discovered worldwide since 1902.

oka / AFP