1 of 2 Trinity, as it has been dubbed, is the third fossil TRex to be auctioned globally, the first in Europe. — Photo: Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP Trinity, as it has been called, is the third fossil T. rex to be auctioned globally and the first in Europe. — Photo: Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP
A mounted skeleton of Tyrannosaurus rex (T. rex), a species that lived about 67 million years ago, was sold this Tuesday (18) at an auction in Switzerland for 5.5 million Swiss francs (about 30 million reais in current conversion) sold. .
According to the auction house Koller, which conducted the sale, the price was estimated at between 5 and 8 million Swiss francs.
The winning bid was 4.8 million Swiss francs, but the final amount, including costs, was 5.5 million francs, a company spokesman, Karl Green, told AFP.
Named Trinity, the 3.9metertall and 11.6meterlong skeleton is an agglomeration of the bones of three different T. rex found between 2008 and 2013 in Montana and Wyoming in the northwestern United States, according to the sales catalogue.
Elsewhere in those states, two other important tyrannosaurus skeletons were discovered and auctioned off.
In 2000, Stan sold for $31.8 million (58.9 million reais at the time), beating the previous record set by Sue, who sold for $8.4 million (9.2 million reais at the time) in 1997.
2 of 2 The head of the T. rex Trinity is on display during the Zurich auction. — Photo: Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP The head of T. rex Trinity can be seen during the auction in Zurich. — Photo: Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP
Trinity was owned by an American and was acquired by a European collector of dinosaurs and modern art, auctioneer Cyril Koller said.
It is the “third T. rex auctioned” worldwide and the first in Europe, he added.
The public was able to observe the skeleton in Zurich for two weeks. “Over 30,000 visitors admired Trinity, including many children,” noted Koller.
Just over half of Trinity’s bone material comes from three Tyrannosaurus specimens, which is higher than the 50% rate experts need for the skeleton to be considered of good quality.
The auction house Koller has made transparent where the bones come from, hence the name Trinity.
For paleontologist Thomas Holtz, Trinity is “not really a specimen, but an artistic installation.” For him “it is deceptive” and it is “not relevant (…) to combine real bones from different individuals into a single skeleton”.
Last year, Hong Kong auction house Christie’s pulled the sale of another T. rex skeleton over doubts about the authenticity of parts of the fossil.