Koller Auctions Ltd
The skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex will go under the hammer in Zurich on April 18th. Anyone who wants to take the 11.6 meter long exhibit home will have to pay several million Swiss francs.
If you want to buy the 11.6 meter long, 3.9 meter high and 67 million year old skeleton, you have to dig deep into your pocket. According to a report in the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” on Saturday, the starting price is CHF 5 million. In the catalog of the responsible auction house Koller, the price range is even given up to 8 million francs.
Behind the auction, titled “Out of This World” – which also includes a meteorite fragment and an astronaut suit – is a former professional magician named Christian Link. He gave the skeleton the name “Trinity”.
Only half the bones are real
This name is no coincidence. The skeleton was assembled from three specimens excavated from 2008 to 2013 in the Hell Creek and Lance Creek formations in the US states of Montana and Wyoming. The bottom line is that only 50 percent of the bones are original, which according to the auction catalog corresponds to a good value.
The sale of dinosaur skeletons to private individuals is not without controversy. Scientists fear that this could result in them missing out on valuable research material.
Skeleton is set up in Zurich’s Tonhalle
The auction house tries to refute this criticism. The catalog quotes the collection curator of the planned new Natural History Museum at the University of Zurich as saying that the trade in dinosaur skeletons is comparable to the art trade. Sooner or later, most privately sold specimens would show up in a public domain setting.
The skeleton will be set up in Zurich’s Tonhalle in the coming weeks. It will be on display there from March 29 by appointment.
SDA, smi
