BONES OF THE DINOSAUR SPECIES THAT INSPIRED JURASSIC PARK UP FOR AUCTION

 

Fossils of the dinosaur that inspired "Jurassic Park" were sold for more than US $ 12 million

His name is "Hector," he is more than 100 million years old, and his fossils sold for more than $12 million at auction at Christie's.

Hector is the most complete skeleton of Deinonychus antirrhopus ever found, according to Christie's. The specimen, excavated in Montana in 2013, dates back to the early Cretaceous period: 115 to 108 million years ago. It is in a "remarkable state of preservation," the auction house says of the specimen, which consists of 126 original fossils in a custom-made frame.

Bones of Deinonychus antirrhopus, a species made famous by blockbuster movies, sold at Christie's for more than double their $6 million guide price.

Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton once admitted that he called the creatures in his book and the 1993 movie "velociraptors" because it was more dramatic than Deinonychus.

"Sickle-shaped and raised from the ground when not in use to maintain its deadly edge, this claw was used to disembowel prey," Christie's described.

The death claw may look familiar to fans of the iconic "Jurassic Park" film series, in which conniving velociraptors kill parkgoers and do battle with a tyrannosaurus rex. In reality, however, Velociraptor was a small, turkey-sized dinosaur found mainly in Mongolia. The filmmakers used its name, but took most of the attributes of the larger Deinonychus, according to Christie's.

He and his wife had an agreement with the owner of the land that allowed them to dig in exchange for a share of the profits from whatever they found.

The pair first noticed bone fragments in an area where two other animals had been found, carefully excavating them with a scalpel and toothbrush.

According to the newspaper, he received much less than the most recent sale price, but his work was never motivated by money.

Héctor, solo el tercer esqueleto completo de Deinonychus encontrado, ha sido de propiedad privada desde su excavación. Los otros dos esqueletos completos de Deinonychus son propiedad de museos: uno está en exhibición en el Museo Estadounidense de Historia Natural.

Algunos fósiles de dinosaurios, particularmente de especies que han llegado a ser "celebridades" como las que aparecen en "Jurassic Park", lograron sumas impresionantes en subastas en las últimas décadas. En 2020, un esqueleto de T.rex se vendió por la cifra récord de US$ 31,8 millones, y en 2021, el esqueleto más grande del mundo de Triceratops se vendió por US$ 7,7 millones.