Misty, one of the only complete skeletons of a diplodocus, has become the first large dinosaur skeleton to auction in the UK, having been sold by Summers Place Auctions on November 27 in West Sussex, UK.
 Misty was the first large dinosaur skeleton sold in the UK, with the majority of the market based in the US |
The huge dinosaur measures over 17m long (56ft) and was unearthed in Wyoming, US. Selling for £400,0000 ($649,880) the skeleton met its low estimate, but had been expected to make as much as £600,000.
There are believed to be just six complete diplodocus skeletons in existence, with the majority of these permanently housed in museum collections. However, their rarity is such that even London's Natural History Museum's famous example is actually only a plaster cast of a composite skeleton in the US.
The example at auction is a female, discovered by renowned dinosaur hunter Raimund Alberdoerfer.
 Salvador Dali was also inspired by Durer's Rhinoceros and created many sculptures and paintings of the subject |
Alongside fossils, a range of sculpture and garden ornaments were also offered in the sale, with the second highest bids seen by sculptor Andrew Sinclair's Durer's Rhino, a bronze resin representation of the famed woodcut by German printmaker and engraver Albrecht Durer, created in 1515.
The impressive piece, standing 193cm high, is one of only three created and has been signed by the artist. It sold for £20,000 ($32,494).
Bonhams held its own fossils auction on November 19 in New York, with a rare mounted nimravid skeleton selling for $161,000.
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