Friday 13 May 2022 12:29 PM Skeleton of a dinosaur that inspired the 'raptor' in Jurassic Park sells for ... trends now
A skeleton of a fearsome dinosaur that was depicted in a terrifying scene in Jurassic Park has sold for $12.4 million at auction.
Standing at 4ft-tall and 10ft-long, the 110 million-year-old skeleton belongs to apex predator Deinonychus antirrhopus.
Deinonychus became one of the world’s most recognisable dinosaurs, after the release of the 1993 blockbuster 'Jurassic Park', in which it stalked the children through a kitchen.
But the creature's true name was not considered dramatic enough by the writer of the book, on which the film was based.
Instead, author Michael Crichton chose to call it a velociraptor which was in fact much smaller.
Auctioneers Christie's sold 'Hector', the world's only privately owned Deinonychus fossil, at a prestigious auction in New York.
Standing at 4ft-tall and 10ft-long, the 110 million-year-old skeleton belongs to apex predator Deinonychus antirrhopus
The Deinonychus – meaning 'terrible claw' – was unearthed in Wolf Canyon, Montana, US between 2012 and 2014, where it had lain almost perfectly preserved for around 110 million years since the early Cretaceous period.
Deinonychus became one of the world’s most recognisable dinosaurs, after the release of the 1993 blockbuster 'Jurassic Park', in which it stalked the children through a kitchen.
Consisting of 126 fossilised bones, Hector is the largest and most complete specimen of its kind ever discovered – although part of its skeleton and most of its skull are reconstructed, the auction house said.
It sparked a fierce bidding war and dwarfed valuer's expectations, selling for $12.4 million (£10.2 million) – more than double the auction house's estimated high of $6 million.
The exceptionally rare artefact attracted the attention of collectors from across the globe, as the vast majority of dinosaur fossils belong to museums.
However, the trend of high-priced fossil sales has irked some paleontologists, who fear that specimens could become lost to science if they are bought by private individuals rather than public institutions.
Back in 2020, a 40ft T-Rex skeleton known as 'Stan' smashed the world record for sale of a dinosaur by four times, selling for $31 million at Christie's.
Consisting of 126 fossilised bones, Hector is the largest and most complete of its kind ever discovered.
The skeleton was found by commercial paleontologist Jared Hudson and acquired by an anonymous buyer.
