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Dinosaur skeletons sell for huge prices, why are scientists not happy?

An unnamed buyer has bid $12.4 million for the skeleton of a Deinonychus dinosaur, which was put up for auction on May 12 at Christie’s. New York.

Home Auction Christie’s said the fossil being auctioned off was nicknamed “Hector”. This is the first time fossils of Deinonychus, species dinosaur two nimble legs with menacing claws on their feet, sold openly. The selling price is more than double the estimate of 6 million USD, according to The New York Times.

This dinosaur most likely wouldn’t have gotten as much attention without the movie Jurassic Park. In the 1993 novel and film, beasts known as “velociraptor” actually look like Deinonychus. (The novel’s author, Michael Crichton, has admitted that the name “velociraptor” sounds more dramatic.)

Dinosaur skeletons sell for huge prices, why are scientists not happy?  - 1 . photo

Dinosaur skeleton up for auction

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Christie’s says the “Hector” skeleton contains 126 real bones, and the rest are reconstructed, including most of the skull.

Dating back to about 110 million years ago, or the beginning of the Cretaceous period, the skeleton was excavated from private land in the US state of Montana about a decade ago by self-taught paleontologists Jack and Roberta Owen, according to Jared. Hudson. Mr. Hudson is a commercial paleontologist who acquired and prepared the specimen. It was then resold to its most recent owner, whose identity is still unknown.

The auction at Christie’s on May 12 continues to expand the list of fossil specimens that have been sold for high value, which has upset some paleontologists. They fear that scientists will not have samples to study if they are purchased by private individuals or organizations instead of government organizations.

The largest Jurassic dinosaur fossil unearthed world

The problem was noticed when “Sue”, the skeleton of a tyrannosaurus rex (Tyrannosaurus nice T. rex), sold to the Field Museum for $8.36 million in 1997 (nearly $15 million in today’s prices). Most recently, the T. rex skeleton nicknamed “Stan” was sold at a record price 31.8 million USDnearly four times the $8 million estimate.

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