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A 150 million - year - onetime dinosaur skeleton that ’s twice the length of a school day jitney has just been sell for more than $ 6 million at an vendue in France — becoming the large dinosaur fossil to ever go under the hammer . The titan ’s remains will be put on public display and be made accessible to scientist who want to study it , its unexampled owner has promised .
The near - complete skeleton in the cupboard , nickname " Vulcan , " consists of just 300 bones , of which rough 80 % are authentic , and stretches to around 70 feet ( 21 time ) from end to end . It belonged to anApatosaurus — a genus of plant - eating giantsvery standardized to the iconicBrontosaurus — and wander what is now North America in thelate Jurassic period(201 million to 145 million years ago ) . Private collectors unearth the fossils at an unnamed site in Wyoming between 2018 and 2021 , according toFrench news agency AFP .
The Apatosaurus skeleton, named “Vulcan,” is around 70 feet long and weighs 22 tons.
The arresting corpse , which weigh more than 22 short ton ( 20 metric piles ) , were put up for auction on Saturday ( Nov. 16 ) at Dampierre - en - Yvelines — a chateau located around 30 miles ( 50 kilometers ) southwest of Paris . The vendue was won by an anon. bidder who paid 6 million euros ( $ 6.4 million ) to set ashore the skeleton .
Vulcan is now " the biggest dinosaur ever sell at auction worldwide , " representative from auction home Barbarossa , which co - ran the auction alongside Collin du Bocage , write online . It is undecipherable which fogy previously hold this platter .
The unnamed winner of the auction sale has promised that Vulcan will be put on public show " at an instauration " and has agreed to give research worker access to study the bones , AFP report .
(Image credit: Collin du Bocage)
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Vulcan likely piazza sixth on thelist of most expensive dinosaur fogy ever sold(although an exact tilt is hard to come by , particularly when answer for for pretentiousness ) . It is slimly less expensive than"Big John , " the world ’s largestTriceratops , deal for $ 7.7 million in 2021 , but somewhat more pricy than anunnamedGorgosaurusfossiland aTyrannosaurus rexskull named Maximus , each sold for around $ 6.1 million .
The most expensive dinosaur fogy ever sold was " Apex , " a near - completeStegosaurusthat was bought at vendue for $ 44.6 million by billionaire Ken Griffin , according toForbes — more than 11 times the original guide cost .
(Image credit: Collin du Bocage)
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(Image credit: Collin du Bocage)
Before then , the world ’s most expensive dinosaur was " Stan " — the 67 - million - year - oldT. rexthat sold for $ 31.8 million in 2020 . Stan became something of a celebrity after this sale when it disappeared for around two yearsbefore finally emerge in Abu Dhabi , despite rumors that ithad been bribe by actor Dwayne " The Rock " Johnson .
The current third - most - expensive dinosaur ever sold is " Hector " theDeinonychus — the species that inspired the show of theVelociraptorsin the " Jurassic Park " moving picture — whichwas bought for $ 12.4 million in 2022 .
(Image credit: Collin du Bocage)
