Dampierre-en-Yvelines, France —The skeleton of a 150-million-year-old herbivore named Vulcain sold at auction for over $US 6 million in France last November 16th defying all estimates and joining the top ten club of dinosaur skeletons sold at the highest bid at auction. The Apatosaurus was auctioned off by the French houses of Collin du Bocage and Barbarossa auction houses who originally estimated the 80% complete Apatosaurus skeleton at $US3.3 million to US$5.5 million. The hammer ultimately went down at $US6, 393 ,209.23 (6.063.000€ ), marking one of the best prices attained in France for a dinosaur skeleton. It was acquired by an anonymous buyer who intends to loan it to a museum.

« This bid is one of the highest ever attained in France for a dinosaur skeleton. We are satisfied that the purchaser plans to lend it to an institution. We will know more soon, » commented the auctioneer Olivier Collin du Bocage when the sale was over.

Effectively the sale is one of the highest in history after the stegosaurus Apex ($US44,600,000), the T-Rex Stan ($US31,800,000), the Raptor ($US12,400,000), the T-Rex Sue ($US8,400,000), and the triceratops Big John ($US6 959 455,87). Our dinosaur of the day, Vulcain, is a gigantic Apatosaurus whose species has yet to be determined, that roamed the face of the Earth in the Late Jurassic period some 160 million years ago. Apatosaurus is a genus of a herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America. And until yesterday, November 16th, Vulcain, had been calmly standing on the grounds of the Château de Dampierre-en-Yvelines, a 17th century French castle where Louis XIV and Louis XV lived before Vulcain took up temporary residence last July 13th. Vulcain, who is 69 feet (21 meters) long is regarded as the largest dinosaur skeleton in the world ever offered at auction. Vulcain is about 150 million years old and was discovered in Wyoming in the United States in 2018. It took three expedition held over a three-year period to excavate him.

The Apatosaurus genus is at times known to the world at large as Brontosaurus which has a colorful history. Named by O.C. Marsh in the 1880s, the dinosaur was in fact identified in 1903 as a member of the Apatosaurus genus, which Marsh had found earlier. Since taxonomy honors the name that came first, Brontosaurus excelsus became Apatosaurus excelsus. The giant herbivore family to which these dinosaurs belonged lived in North America during the late Jurassic period, between 160 million and 145 million years ago. It lived alongside Stegosaurus, Diplodocus and Allosaurus. The name Apatosaurus comes from Greek words meaning ‘deceptive lizard’.

The expert who evaluated Vulcain was Eric Mickeler, who has been responsible for a number of previous dinosaur skeleton sales for 20 years at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Aguttes. « This sale at auction set one of the world’s records for the sale of a herbivorous dinosaur, » commented Mr. Mickeler. Prices for dinosaur skeletons have increased significantly over the past 25 years since the sale of Sue at Sotheby’s New York for $US8.4 million. Sue sits in the Field Museum of Chicago today and the record price she obtained stood until 2020 when The Museum of Abu Dhabi purchased a T-Rex christened Stan at Christie’s New York for $31.8 million. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette
For the auction houses:
https://collindubocage.com/
https://www.barbarossa-auction.com/
For the Château de Dampierre-en-Yvelines:
22bis rue de Chevreuse à Dampierre-en-Yvelines, France. + 33 (0) 30 52 52 83. https://www.domaine-dampierre.com/