​The complete skeleton of a gorgosaurus, a dinosaur related to the famous T-Rex that lived 77 million years ago, was sold at an auction organized by Sotheby’s in New York for about $6.1 million, AFP reports.

The final sale price of nearly $6.1 million made this Gorgosaurus skeleton “one of the most expensive dinosaur skeletons ever sold at auction,” according to Sotheby’s, though that’s a far cry from the amount fetched for a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton that fetched in 2020 year for $31.8 million in New York.

The skeleton of a gorgosaurus, measuring almost three meters in height and 6.7 meters in length, was discovered in 2018 in the geological formation of the Judith River in the US state of Montana and has since remained in a private collection.

Sotheby’s auction house estimated the sale price to be between $5 million and $8 million, betting on the skeleton’s “excellent state” of preservation.

When did Gorgosaurus live?

Gorgosaurus, like the T-Rex, was part of the Tyrannosauridae family and lived in the Upper Cretaceous, disappearing from Earth about 77 million years ago.

“Almost all the specimens of Gorgosaurus that have been discovered are in museums. This is the only one that was available for purchase,” explained Cassandra Hutton, director of science and popular culture at Sotheby’s.

The sale of dinosaur skeletons regularly prompts auctions organized by major houses, much to the chagrin of paleontologists, who say such operations reduce the chances that the skeletons will be displayed in museums and available for scientific research.

The dinosaur that inspired Jurassic Park was sold two months ago

In May, also in New York, but at Christie’s headquarters, the Denonychus antirrhopus skeleton that inspired the Velociraptor dinosaurs in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film Jurassic Park was bought for $12.4 million (taxes included) by an Asian collector.

This sale price, which more than doubled the original estimate, made the skeleton in question the second most expensive dinosaur skeleton ever sold at auction, far behind the domain’s “big star”, Tyrannosaurus rex. (Agerpress)