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“Skinny”, a fossil of a large herbivorous dinosaur, cousin of the Diplodocus, currently sits in a living room of the InterContinental Paris-Le Grand.

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"Skinny", a fossil of a large herbivorous dinosaur

"Skinny", a fossil of a large herbivorous dinosaur, cousin of the Diplodocus, currently sits in a living room of the InterContinental Paris-Le Grand.

“Skinny”, a fossil of a large herbivorous dinosaur, cousin of the Diplodocus, currently sits in a living room of the InterContinental Paris-Le Grand.

They are beginning to become familiar with Parisian auction houses. Dinosaurs invade the auction world and make prices tremble. Skinny is the last one. 150 million years old, this sauropod, what remains of it, stands proudly on its two legs, from the top of its six meters.

This skeleton of the great herbivorous dinosaur, cousin of the diplodocus, strutted around for a few days in the living room of the former Grand Hotel, now the InterContinental Paris-Le Grand, before passing under the hammer on Thursday at 3pm. The entire assembly was done by expert Nicolas Tourment. With its long neck, its large body of 13 meters long and its almost cute head, this Jurassic specimen is estimated between 1.2 and 1.8 million euros (excluding expenses) by the French auction house Aguttes, which has held several dinosaur sales in recent years.

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Arkhane, a new species of dinosaur in world exclusivity at the Museum

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Arkhane, a new species of dinosaur

Arkhane, a new species of dinosaur in world exclusivity at the Museum

Arkhane, a new species of dinosaur in world exclusivity at the Museum

link to this article:    //www.naturalsciences.be/fr/news/item/17601

This authentic fossil, 70% complete, 8.7 m long and dating from the Upper Jurassic (about 155,000,000 years ago), is the skeleton of a new allosaurus species. It has its world premiere in the Evolution Gallery from May 7, 2019 to March 31, 2020.
Arkhane – whose name is a contraction of the secret, mysterious Latin arcanus and the formidable conqueror Genghis Khan – is an authentic skeleton that is 70% complete, which is exceptional. It is 8.7 m long and 2.6 m high. It dates from the Upper Jurassic, more precisely from Kimmeridgian (157 000 000 – 152 000 000). It was discovered in 2014 at the Barnum-Kaycee site in Wyoming, Morrison Formation.

Carnivorous (observe its front claws and teeth), bipedal (its hind legs and muscular tail counterbalanced the front of its body) and fast (it could reach 30 to 55 km/h): Arkhane must have been a formidable predator.
Arkhane arrived at the Museum via a private collector, neophyte but passionate, who wishes to remain anonymous. He acquired it at an auction in France with the objective of unlocking the mysteries of the specimen and making it accessible to as many people as possible. For six months, our paleontologist, Pascal Godefroit, studied the fossil skeleton. Here are his conclusions.

This specimen belongs to the genus Allosaurus
In particular, it has the highly profiled skull typical of allosaurs, as well as a bony protuberance, probably corneous, in front of and above the orbit (at the lacrimal level).
Allosaurs were the top predators of the Upper Jurassic in North America: 60% of the theropods in the Morrison Formation belong to the genus Allosaurus. Their prey were sauropods (Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Camarasaurus…), ornithopods (especially Nanosaurus) and stegosaurids, or even occasionally other predators.
The genus Allosaurus currently includes A. fragilis (known by more than 60 more or less complete skeletons), A. maximus and “A. jimmadseni” (known by an almost complete specimen and skull), all from the Morrison Formation, as well as A. europaeus, the allosaurus found at the Porto Novo site in Portugal.

It is not an Allosaurus fragilis but a new species
Several anatomical characteristics tend to show this, including :
the mandible (lower jaw) very thin with very small teeth compared to those of the upper jaw
the claw of the first finger of the hand proportionally more massive than in Allosaurus fragilis
the tip of the pubis – foot-shaped – smaller than in Allosaurus fragilis, while the base of the pubis is wider the angle of the femur head is larger than in Allosaurus fragilis
Arkhane and “Allosaurus jimmadseni” date from the same period (Kimmeridgian, 152-157 million years ago) and are slightly older than A. fragilis found in the upper part of the Morrison Formation.

Unlike Big Al, another famous allosaurus, Arkhane does not have any obvious signs of injuries (repaired fractures…) or diseases. So we don’t know how he died.
You can admire Arkhane in the Evolution Gallery, in the part dedicated to Jurassic animals. The fossils exposed so far in this area are all marine animals. It is therefore with enthusiasm that we welcome, for 11 months, this magnificent Jurassic terrestrial predator.
Categories: Exhibitions, DO Earth and History of Life, Events, Children and Families, Museum News

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The 150 million year old dinosaur skeleton has arrived in the gardens of Marqueyssac in the Dordogne

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The 150 million year old dinosaur skeleton

The 150 million year old dinosaur skeleton has arrived in the gardens of Marqueyssac in the Dordogne

The 150 million year old dinosaur skeleton has arrived in the gardens of Marqueyssac in the Dordogne

link to this article: //www.francebleu.fr/infos/insolite/video-le-squelette-du-dinosaure-de-150-millions-d-annees-est-arrive-aux-jardins-de-marqueyssac-en-dordogne-1489764122

The skeleton of the dinosaur purchased for more than a million euros by the Marqueyssac gardens in the Dordogne is being assembled. Several hundred bones to assemble. The dinosaur will be visible from March 21.
It took a full day for the dinosaur assemblers and a curator to bring this “medium-sized allosaurus”, 2.25 metres high and 7.50 metres long, back to life. The skeleton was dismantled in more than three or four hundred parts. “We didn’t count,” admits Nicolas Tourment, an expert in paleontology.
After being exposed for three months in the Caverne du Pont d’Arc in Ardèche, the Kan dinosaur took refuge in the former greenhouse of the Jardins de Marqueyssac, in Vézac, where the peacocks were previously fed.
“There has been a lot of work done in record time,” admits Jean Lemoussu, Chief Gardener. The project was validated at the end of January and work began in early February. The allosaurus now sits behind a window in a brand new room overlooking the Dordogne valley.

“It’s magnificent, it has a breathtaking view here…”, smiles Maria Gonzalez, curator at the Montmartre Museum in Paris and exhibition manager at the Caverne du Pont d’Arc. “I think he’s going to be very happy here, he communicates very well with nature.”
“A rare skeleton”
The dinosaur’s head was transported and mounted separately from the rest of the skeleton. “Too fragile and too heavy”, it will be exposed right next door. It is a molded head that rests on Kan’s precious skeleton, whose particularity is to be almost entirely of origin: “70 to 75% of the fossils are true, it is even 95% as far as the head is concerned,” Maria Gonzalez explains. “I think it’s a very good quality allosaurus, it’s very rare to find a suit like this.”

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A dinosaur of an unknown species exposed in Lyon

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A dinosaur of an unknown species

A dinosaur of an unknown species exposed in Lyon

A dinosaur of an unknown species exposed in Lyon

site link for this article: www.leparisien.fr/sciences/un-dinosaure-d-une-espece-inconnue-expose-a-lyon-15-03-2018-7609098.php

The former hall of the Brotteaux station is the only place capable of accommodating the XXL skeleton before it was put up for sale in June at the Eiffel Tower.


After 24 hours of a clever editing that seems to bring it back to life, he is exposed to the public for two and a half months. With its 9 m long, 2.6 m high, and its great age (between 157 and 152 million years), this fossil dinosaur skeleton is presented as unique. It does not correspond to any known dinosaur species today.
“It can be said to be a carnivorous theropod dinosaur, but its teeth, skull, pubis and many other anatomical details distinguish it from the Allosaurus. It is unlike any other,” explains Eric Mickeler, the expert who has been following it since its discovery in 2013 in the Morrison Formation, a true paleontological deposit in Wyoming, USA. After two years of excavation and two years of restoration, the theropod spent three months in Nicolas Tourment’s workshops in Marseille to be assembled on a custom-made articulated metal structure. “The challenge is to combine science and aesthetics,” says the fossil preparation specialist, “Who could buy such an object? “The potential customers are only a few dozen in the world,” says auctioneer Claude Aguttes, who has already made two sales of the same type since 2016, “they are museums or foundations, private collectors and companies.
The buyer must in any case submit it to the scientists to try to specify its species. However, its examination has already made it possible to trace a little of its history. “He was an adult,” says Nicolas Tourment, “and he had fractures to his phalanges of his feet that were reossified. The same observations were made on his tail and ergot.

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Heathrow Airport puts spectacular giant dinosaur skeleton on display

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Spectacular giant dinosaur skeleton

Heathrow Airport puts spectacular giant dinosaur skeleton on display

The skeleton of a 155 million year old diplodocus has gone on exhibition at Heathrow Terminal 5 from April 2nd until the end of May before being sold by the leadingFrench auction house Aguttes in June for an expected £2m.
Nicknamed ‘Skinny’ the Diplodocus skeleton shows important and significant impressions of the skin of the dinosaur, which has never been discovered before on a Diplodocus, making this a uniquely valuable skeleton – a world first. It was discovered in shale beds in Wyoming USA in 2012.
Ross Baker, Chief Commercial Officer at Heathrow said, “What a sizeable welcome for families travelling this Easter! We’re excited to see the ‘roar-some’ reaction from our passengers, as they encounter this completely unique specimen before heading on their travels with loved ones.”
Scientific study indicates it is a new species, a cousin of the diplodocus. It will be seen by the millions of passengers at Heathrow’s Terminal Five for two monthsduring April and May before its sale at auction.

Last year Aguttes Auctions sold a dinosaur skeleton for £2m in the Eiffel Tower. The sale of this new dinosaur is expected to achieve a figure greater than £2m. The Aguttes-Paleomoove dinosaur is an authentic fossil with an original skeleton that is 90% complete and measures 13 meters in length.
Diplodocus walked the earth in the Late Jurassic some 155-145 million years ago andwas a vegetarian dinosaur species with a very long neck, allowing it to feed both high and low. The species is the mascot of the British Museum which has a Diplodocus cast known as ‘Dippy’ whose 292 bones are cleaned every two years.
It was huge, tipping the scales at 20,000 kg, feeding on leaves and other soft vegetation using rows of comb-like teeth.

This totally unique dinosaur skeleton is presented in a revolutionary way as a contemporary work of art, but respects all the scientific criteria of preparation and reconstruction. It will be possible to change its initial position a little and to make it take another stance thanks to the great interpretation capabilities of the French company, Paleoomove Laboratory, based in Marseille which specializes in the articulation of dinosaur skeletons.
Eric Mickeler, International expert in Natural History, and a specialist in dinosaurs isalso a special advisor to Aguttes Auction house. He says: “This exceptional skeleton is from a cousin of the Diplodocus. As an original skeleton it is quite remarkable. It is currently the only Diplodocus in the world with the imprint of its skin: it is therefore a world first.”
Asked why people invest in buying dinosaurs, Eric Mickeler says: “They are powerful symbols which act as memento mori and remind us of the outcome of all species over the ages. Their sheer size awes people, they are immense and that is part of their fasciation for collectors. Buyers look for big impressive aesthetically attractive and well-preserved examples. It is also a case of supply and demand. There are very few found and so prices grow because there is a strong demand for them. So if you are looking seriously to buy one choose the best you can find, the best preserved.”The dinosur carries the Eric Mickeler Fossile Label, which is a protected brand, to indicate and strongly emphasize the scientific value of this fantastic dinosaur.