Largest dinosaur ever auctioned for sale in France

The largest dinosaur ever put up for auction will be sold in France in November: it is a large apatosaur skeleton discovered in 2018 in Wyoming, in the United States, which will be put up for sale on Nov. 16, with an estimate of between 3 and 5 million euros, by the auction houses Barbarossa and Collin du Bocage. The dinosaur, as is always the case in such cases, has a name: its name is Vulcain, and until Nov. 3 the public can see it on display at the chateau in Dampierre-en-Yvelines, near Paris.

More than 20 meters long and about 80 percent complete, Vulcain was discovered during an excavation that recovered about 300 bones. In the state of Wyoming, the law allows the acquisition of concessions intended for excavations to discover prehistoric bones, since it is not difficult to come across dinosaur fossils in those parts.Vulcain then ended up in France because the excavation was financed by a French investor. Finished in 2021 (in fact, it took three years to unearth the entire skeleton), the apatosaur reached Provence where it was restored in the laboratories of the specialist Paleomoove Laboratory company.

The auction house is already working to find potential buyers interested in taking home the bulky apatosaur. The sale agreement requires the future owner to guarantee its commitment to make Vulcain accessible to paleontologists to enable study and research activities. Apatosaurus (the name means “deceptive lizard”) lived in the Upper Jurassic, and could reach a length of 22 meters. It was a large, long-necked quadrupedal herbivore, very similar to the brontosaurus although larger in size.

At the moment Vulcain is still being studied, however it is a magnificent specimen that is fascinating because of its size and its excellent state of preservation. After restoration, it was mounted on a stainless steel structure to show it in all its grandeur. And that is how it can be seen until November 3 at Dampierre Castle.

Largest dinosaur ever auctioned for sale in France

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