14 DAY TRIAL // This coming November 19, the fossil remains of a T. Rex and a Triceratops that fought and killed each other are to be sold at an auction held in New York.
Paleontologists explain that these dinosaur remains are roughly 68 million years old.
What's more, they are very well preserved. In fact, it appears that traces of soft tissue can still be spotted on some of the bones.
Daily Mail reports that, because of this, specialists suspect that they will sell for nearly $10 million (€7.47 million).
By the looks of it, the fossils were discovered in 2006, and quite by chance. Thus, a ranch owner in Montana, US, was the one who stumbled upon them.
Later on, fossil hunter Clayton Phipps, whom some referred to as the Dino Cowboy, arrived at the site and excavated them, the same source informs us.
“The fossils were discovered purely by chance on a ranch in Montana. The rancher spotted some bone fragments in the ground one day and called in Clayton Phipps, the Dino Cowboy.”
“They unearthed what they thought was a Triceratops skeleton which would have been amazing on it's own - but then they spotted some vertebrae nearby. Incredibly, they turned out to be from another dinosaur, a Tyrannosaurus,” researcher Thomas Lindgren details.
Investigations carried out over the years have revealed that the beasts, each of which measured some 8 feet (2.4 meters) in height, died after they had injured one another.
Long story short, paleontologists have found several T. Rex teeth embedded in the Triceratops' skull.
The T. Rex, on the other hand, appears to have died after receiving a blow that smashed both its skull and its chest.
“The Tyrannosaurus's skull and chest have been crushed, while some of its teeth are embedded in the Triceratops' skull.”
“The Triceretops is huge, suggesting it was elderly, and clearly the Tyrannosaur thought he could take it out but the Triceretops was wise and powerful and had other ideas,” Thomas Lindgren says.
Paleontologists hope the dinosaurs remains will be purchased by a scientific institution, and that at some point in the future they will be put on public display.