TEMPO.CO, Paris – A fossil The giant triceratops dinosaur is scheduled to be auctioned at the Drouot auction house in Paris, France, in October. The 8-meter-long specimen will reportedly be the largest known skeleton of a triceratops in the world.
Kerangka raksasa dari triceratops berusia 66 juta tahun itu diperkirakan menghasilkan antara €1,2 juta (Rp 20,3 miliar) dan €1,5 juta (Rp 25,3 milar) pada lelang 21 Oktober.
Fosil yang dijuluki "Big John" itu, memiliki tengkorak dengan panjang 2,62 meter dan lebar dua meter. Tanduk terbesarnya memiliki panjang 1,1 meter dan lebar lebih dari 30 sentimeter, menjadikannya spesimen Triceratops terbesar yang pernah ditemukan, kata juru lelang dari Drouot.
British Natural History Museum mengatakan embel-embel itu, yang digunakan untuk melindungi leher atau menarik pasangan, membentang hampir satu meter, sedangkan tengkoraknya adalah salah satu yang terbesar dan "paling mencolok" dari semua hewan darat.
The herbivorous species can reach a length of nine meters and weigh up to 5,500 kilograms. Triceratops roamed the Earth during the Late Cretaceous period about 66-68 million years ago.
Auctioneers Binoche et Giquello said Big John lived on the island continent of Laramidi that stretches from present-day Alaska to Mexico. The island continent was destroyed in the ancient plains formation of Hell Creek in South Dakota, where geologist Walter W. Stein Bill excavated the fossil in May 2014.
A year later, the specimen was excavated and restored in Italy. The Big John fossil is preserved in mud and is more than 60 percent complete, with the skull 75 percent intact.
The fossil contains no evidence that dinosaurs lived a difficult life. There was a tear in his collar from a fight with the smaller triceratops which the auctioneer said stemmed from courtship or territorial defence.
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