The auction house Sotheby’s plans to sell the fossilized skeleton of a dinosaur related to the famous T. rex later this month.
Gorgosaurus lived about 10 million years before T. rex in what is now the western United States and Canada.
The skeleton was found in 2018 in the American state of Montana, not far from the Canadian border.
The creature was the top meat-eater of its time during the late Cretaceous period, about 76 million years ago.
The fossil is valued between $5 and $8 million. All other known skeletons of its kind are already kept in museums around the world.
The skeleton is about 3 meters tall and 10 meters long.
Cassandra Hatton is the global head of science and popular culture for Sotheby’s. She called the fossil “unbelievable.” She said she has seen few things in her career that “inspire wonder and capture imaginations” like the Gorgosaurus skelton.
The auction is planned for July 28.
I’m Dan Friedell.