World’s biggest triceratops “Big John” on sale in Paris

The triceratops is one of the most recognizable dinosaurs because of the three horns on its head, one on the nose, and two on the forehead, which gave the dinosaur its Latin name.

The world’s largest known example of the dinosaur Triceratops, known as “Big John,” will be auctioned off in October by a Paris auction house, with the stunning skeleton on display to the public beforehand, according to organizers.

“Big John,” a 66 million-year-old skeleton with an eight-meter-long skeleton, is the largest known surviving example.

It will be on exhibit at the Drouot auction house in Paris beginning October 18 and will be auctioned by the expert auctioneers Giquello on October 21.

It’s expected to sell for 1.2 to 1.5 million euros ($1.4-$1.8 million), though dinosaur auction sales have always been unpredictable.

According to Alexandre Giquello of the Giquello house, the dinosaur has an export license and a dozen potential purchasers.

The animal’s two-meter-wide head, 200 bones, and enormous horns were being put together behind the windows of a Drouot exhibition gallery in central Paris on Tuesday.

Big John, a one-of-a-kind specimen with a skeleton that is more than 60% complete — including 75% for the cranium — was discovered in 2014 by geologist Walter W. Stein Bill in the US state of South Dakota. It was restored in the Italian city of Trieste.

This sale takes place amid continuous interest in dinosaur skeletons, with prices frequently breaking records, leaving public museums and research centers unable to compete with private buyers.

A rare allosaurus skeleton, one of the oldest dinosaurs, was auctioned in Paris in October for almost three million euros, more than double its estimate, to an unidentified buyer.

A 67-million-year-old T-Rex skeleton sold for $31.8 million in New York a few weeks ago, smashing records for a dinosaur and considerably exceeding an estimate of $6 to $8 million.

However, after minimum prices were not met in 2020, numerous dinosaurs on display in Paris did not find buyers.

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