66 Million Year Old Tyrannosaurus Rex – No Sale
He's called Samson and he is one of the three most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton specimens ever discovered, with the most intact skull of any T.Rex fossil.
Samson recently went under the hammer in Las Vegas but in the current economic climate auctions are unpredictable and dinosaurs tend to be very expensive.
Samson was discovered in Harding, SD, in the late 1980s. A ranchers son found some bones sticking through the ground and a few years later a pair of fossil collectors made a deal with the rancher. They excavated the bones and sold them to an anonymous buyer and for over a decade Samsons bones were kept in storage.
In early 3009 the owner contacted Los Angeles-based Bonhams & Butterfields about selling Samson and the auction house sent curator Thomas Lindgren, its co-director of natural history, to inspect the dinosaur. Lindgren confirmed it as an excellent specimen and it was put it for sale.
Bonhams and Butterfields describe Samson as....
A rare 66-million year old Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton – dubbed "Samson."
One of the three most complete examples ever to have been discovered, the animal's skull, in particular, is one of the most intact Tyrannosaurus rex skull in existence. The entire specimen contains approximately 170 bones, more than 55% of the total bone count of an entire skeleton.
This animal was most likely a very skilled hunter with binocular color vision and an extremely sensitive sense of smell. In life, "Samson" measured approx 40-feet in length and could have looked into a second story window. Its massive skull and powerful serrated teeth could have bitten through the leg bone of any contemporary dinosaur
On the day of the auction the bidding opened at $2.5 million. The bids climbed to $2.6 million, $2.7 million, $3.0 million . . . When the bidding reached $3.6 million, the auctioneer asked: "Any advance?" The audience was tense and silent. "Last chance," he said. Then the gavel came down and Samson the 66 Million Year Old Tyrannosaurus Rex hadn't sold.
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