Visitors look at the skeleton of a gigantic Triceratops over 66 million years old
The fossilised remains of 'Big John', the largest triceratops dinosaur ever discovered by paleontologists, sold for 6.65 million euros ($7.74 million) at a Paris auction on Thursday.
The hammer price at the Drouot auction house, before commission and other costs, was 5.5 million euros.
Big John roamed the lands of modern-day South Dakota more than 66 million years ago.
Drouot had estimated the skeleton would fetch between 1.2-1.5 million euros.
The first piece of bone from the supersized skeleton - the skull alone is 2.62 meters long and two meters wide - was found in 2014.
By 2015, paleontologists had unearthed 60% of the skeleton, a rare feat, made of over 200 pieces which were painstakingly put together in Italy, to prepare for the Paris auction.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)