Triceratops

$33k dinosaur leg leaves its mark at Natural History auction

An ancient and massive Triceratops limb has roared past its estimate in Dallas, Texas

Living between 68 and 65 million years ago in what is now North America, the Triceratops is one of the most recognisable of all dinosaurs.

Most triceratops are thought to have been just under 10 feet tall and almost 30 feet long - a terrifying creature to encounter, even if it didn't have the three huge horns.

However, at Heritage's Natural History sale, (which concluded on Sunday) a leg of a Triceratops was sold which must have been much taller than 10 feet. Standing one and a half times taller than any leg from a complete skeleton, the foreleg must have been part of a truly enormous creature.

Extra-large Triceratops leg (Click to enlarge)

The 54.5in limb was found nearly complete, with two toes added which were found nearby. It was given a guide price of $18,000-22,000. Bidders, mostly on the internet, disagreed with this however and the competition pushed it all the way up to sell for $31,070.

In the same auction, a mammoth foreleg sold for $7,170.

Fossils and dinosauria are becoming increasingly valuable, with a mammoth skeleton selling for a record amount (€302,440/$444,680) last year, and a complete T. Rex skeleton fetching roughly $5m.

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Image: Heritage Auction Galleries