The reconstructed skeleton of the plesiosaur “Nessie”, on display before its auction at Sotheby’s, on July 10, 2023 in New York (AFP / TIMOTHY A. CLARY)
Two reconstructed dinosaur skeletons, a flying reptile and a species associated with the legendary Loch Ness monster, will soon be auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York, it announced on Tuesday.
Named “Nessie”, after the famous beast of the Scottish lake, the rare specimen of plesiosaur, a marine reptile, is estimated between 600,000 and 800,000 dollars. It had been sold for 456,000 euros in 2010 in Paris, already at Sotheby’s.
At the time, it came from the former collection of a private German museum, indicated the catalog of the auction house.
Discovered in the Blockley quarry in Gloucestershire in 1990, the skeleton “is around 75% complete”, an “exceptional” level, according to Cassandra Hotton, head of science and popular culture at Sotheby’s.
The reconstructed skeleton of the plesiosaur “Nessie”, on display before its auction at Sotheby’s, on July 10, 2023 in New York (AFP / TIMOTHY A. CLARY)
It dates back to the Lower Jurassic period, about 190 million years ago.
With its elongated neck, the plesiosaur has been associated in contemporary culture with the Loch Ness monster, the legendary creature of Scottish folklore, although this theory has been debunked by scientists.
It will be auctioned on July 26 in New York, during a special “Natural History” sale, says Sotheby’s, as will a skeleton of a pteranodon, a flying reptile with a wingspan of 6 meters, estimated at between 4 and 6 million. of dollars.
The reconstructed skeleton of the pteranodon “Horus”, a flying reptile that lived in the Upper Cretaceous, more than 80 million years ago, exhibited at Sotheby’s before an auction, on July 10, 2023 in New York ( AFP / TIMOTHY A . CLARY )
Discovered in Kansas in the United States, “Horus” is presented with all wings spread “and almost all of the original fossil bones have not been restored”, says the auction company.
She nevertheless specifies that the skull was reconstituted by a technique of “restoration in 3D” and that “the bones which were not found on the excavation site were replaced by elements printed in 3D in high resolution”.
Fossils of prehistoric animals are now regular auction stars.
The record in value belongs to a tyrannosaurus rex, sold in 2020 for $31.8 million.
2023-07-11 18:14:46
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