Status: 05/13/2022 12:19 p.m
An unknown bidder from Asia is worth twelve million dollars for a dinosaur skeleton that inspired the makers of “Jurassic Park” to create one of their dinosaurs. It is the second most expensive dinosaur skeleton in the world.
A dinosaur skeleton has sold for more than $12.4 million in New York. Nicknamed “The Raptor”, the skeleton of Deinonychus antirrhopus consists of 126 fossilized bones and inspired the creators of “Jurassic Park”. It went to an Asian bidder, as the auction house “Christie’s” announced.
The three-meter-long fossil was unearthed several years ago in Wolf Canyon in the US state of Montana and has been privately owned ever since. It fetched $12.4 million (€11.9 million) at auction, the second-highest price ever paid for a dinosaur skeleton. The most expensive dino is a Tyrannosaurus Rex, which was auctioned for $31.8 million in 2020.
Smaller and more agile than the T-Rex, Deinonychus antirrhopus was the template for the Velociraptor in Stephen Spielberg’s film “Jurassic Park”. In fact, the Deinonychus antirrhopus and the Velociraptor are two different species, but the screenwriters took some artistic liberties when designing their dinosaurs.