VIDEO: First predatory dinosaur to be sold in Billingshurst

The skeleton of one of the largest predatory dinosaurs to walk on earth is to go on sale in a deal you can really sink your teeth into - as long as you have a spare £500,000.
Allosaurous on sale at Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst, photo by Glynn Clarkson.Allosaurous on sale at Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst, photo by Glynn Clarkson.
Allosaurous on sale at Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst, photo by Glynn Clarkson.

Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst will be selling an almost complete Allosaurus skeleton in November but it won’t come cheap with the prehistoric creature expected to fetch between £300,000 and £500,000.

The beast is the first predatory dinosaur to be sold in Great Britain and still retains an articulated skull showing a set of dagger-like teeth.

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The skeleton, found at a quarry in Wyoming, is believed to be a young Allosaurus and measures 285cm in length.

Allosaurous on sale at Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst, photo by Glynn Clarkson.Allosaurous on sale at Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst, photo by Glynn Clarkson.
Allosaurous on sale at Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst, photo by Glynn Clarkson.

It is thought the creature lived around 145 million years ago during the late Jurassic Period, 80 million years before its distant relative the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Rupert van der Werff, director at Summers Place Auctions, said: “We are pleased to be offering this skeleton to our global customers, and expect a lot of European and Asian interest in this.

“The Allosaurus, together with the T-Rex, has become the quintessentially large, carnivorous dinosaur in western popular culture.

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“Given the size of this Allosaurus it also adds the cute factor and it may not just attract interest from museums, but could also be the wow factor in luxurious living room.”

Allosaurous on sale at Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst, photo by Glynn Clarkson.Allosaurous on sale at Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst, photo by Glynn Clarkson.
Allosaurous on sale at Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst, photo by Glynn Clarkson.

The auction house has previously sold the skeleton of a Diplodocus, which was nicknamed Misty, to the Natural History Museum of Denmark for £483,100.

Last year the skeleton of a woolly mammoth was also auctioned off for £189,000 to a private buyer.

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