Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, named Trinity, fetches more than $6 mn at Zurich auction

Trinity, a composite Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton consisting of the bones of three distinct T-Rexes, sold for 5.5 million Swiss francs ($6.1 million) on Tuesday in a special auction.

The skeleton, which is said to be 65–67 million years old, was transported from the United States in nine enormous containers before being auctioned off at the Koller auction house in Zurich.

Trinity fetched a hammer price of 4.8 million Swiss francs, rising to 5.5 million with the buyer's premium added on.

An unidentified US private seller had expected the skeleton to sell for between five and eight million Swiss francs when it was placed up for auction.

A private European collector of contemporary art and artefacts from dinosaurs purchased it.

The skeleton measures 3.9-metres high, 11.6 metres long and 2.65 metres wide.

The locations are well-known for the discovery of two further noteworthy T-Rex skeletons that have been sold at auction.

The three Tyrannosaurus specimens account for little over half of the skeleton's bone mass, which is higher than the required threshold of 50% for specialists to deem such a skeleton to be of good quality

Due to the specimens ending up in private hands and being out of reach of researchers, experts have warned that such trading could be detrimental to science. , Christian Link of Koller emphasised that 95 percent of T-Rexes that are now known are housed in museums.

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