'Big John' dinosaur remains fetched at auction for more than $7.5 million
An unnamed American collector has bought the remains of Big John, the largest three-horned dinosaur ever discovered by paleontologists, for 6.65 million euros ($7.74 million) at an auction in Paris on Thursday.
More than 66 million years ago, Big John lived in the land where South Dakota is now.
He was given the same name as the owner of the land where his bones were found.
"It's being taken over by an American collector, and he's very excited about the idea of including a piece like this in his collections," said Joan Rivers, the buyer's representative.
The first piece of the huge skeleton was found in 2014. This dinosaur is very large, with the skull alone measuring 2.62 meters in length and up to two meters in width.
By 2015, scientists had skillfully discovered 60 percent of the skeleton, including more than 200 pieces that had been pieced together with great difficulty in Italy, in preparation for the Paris auction.
The skull shows the impact of an injury, which researchers said was likely the result of a blow from the back by another dinosaur.
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