Auction of Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton

Heritage Auction House, New York (USA) has just sold a very well-preserved dinosaur skeleton for 1.05 million dollars. People suspect that this skeleton was dug up in Mongolia and smuggled out of the country by antiquities smugglers.

A Tyrannosaurus Bataar dinosaur skeleton has just sold for more than $1 million.

According to BBC, it is the skeleton of an Asian dinosaur called Tyrannosaurus Bataar, a smaller "brother" of the Tyrannosaurus Rex that lived in North America.

This Tyrannosaurus Bataar lived in the area of ​​Mongolia and China during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 70 to 65 million years ago. The dinosaur had a skeleton 7.3 meters long and 2.4 meters wide.

According to the assessment, the integrity of the skeleton is about 75%, including the skull (80%), while skeletons kept in museums around the world are only 50% intact or less, said Mr. David Herskovits, director of Heritage Natural History auction house.

But the anonymous buyer will not receive the skeleton until all legal issues are resolved. The Mongolian government argues that the dinosaur skeleton, found in the Gobi Desert on Mongolian territory, should be their national property, seized by smugglers and smuggled across the border. Heritage says it has already put the skeleton up for sale, and that it imported it legally. It admits that the skeleton was discovered in the Gobi Desert, but it is unclear which country it came from, and that it is most likely the part that was found in northern China. Last week (48 hours before the auction), the Mongolian president warned Heritage to postpone the auction or it would seek a ban on the shipment of the precious skeleton to the buyer.

According to Vietnamnet - Office