Two reconstructed dinosaur skeletons, a flying reptile and a species related to the legendary Loch Ness monster, will soon be auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York, it was announced on Tuesday. Named “Nessie” after the famous Scottish lake monster, the rare specimen of the plesiosaur, a marine reptile, is estimated at $600,000 and $800,000.
The skeleton, discovered in Blackley Quarry in Gloucestershire in 1990, is “about 75% complete”, an “exceptional” condition, says Cassandra Hatton, head of science and popular culture at Sotheby’s. It belongs to the Lower Jurassic period, about 190 million years ago. With its long neck, Plisiosaurus has been associated in contemporary culture with the Loch Ness Monster, a legendary creature from Scottish folklore, although this theory has been disputed by scientists. It was already sold at Sotheby’s in Paris in 2010 for €456,000. At the time, the auction house’s catalog indicated that it came from the former collection of a German private museum.
A 3D reconstruction technique
Sotheby’s says it will be auctioned during a special “natural history” sale in New York on July 26, along with the skeleton of a pteranodon, a flying reptile with a 6m wingspan estimated at 4 to 6 million. Dollars.
Discovered in Kansas, US, “Horus” is displayed with its wings spread, with “almost all of the original fossilized bones not recovered,” the auction house says. However, it mentions that the skull was reconstructed through a “3D reconstruction” technique. “Bones that were not found at the excavation site were replaced with high-resolution 3D printed components,” he adds.
Fossils of prehistoric animals are now regular auction stars. Owned by Tyrannosaurus Rex, which sold for $31.8 million in 2020.
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