The world’s largest dinosaur skeleton could be yours!

If you’re into dinosaurs, you too could own a 66-million-year-old giant Triceratops fossil if you have an estimated 1.2 million euros (AED5million). 

The fossil who has been named Big John’s skull is 2.62 meters (8 feet 7 inches) long and 2 meters (6 feet 7 inches) wide, while his two largest horns are 1.1 meters (3 feet 7 inches) long and more than 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) wide at their base, able to withstand 16 tons of pressure, as per the auctioneers Binoche et Giquello.

Big John is believed to have lived in Laramidia, an island continent that stretched from present-day Alaska to Mexico. The fossil perished in an ancient flood plain currently named the Hell Creek formation in South Dakota and was discovered by geologist Walter W. Stein Bill in May 2014. The dinosaur was dug up a year later, and later restored in Italy, the auction company stated. 

Big John’s remains were preserved in mud and bear wounds of a challenging life with a laceration in his collar from an altercation with a smaller triceratops, which the company stated was due to a territorial battle or courtship of a mate.

With a parrot-like beak, three horns, and a ‘frill’ that could be used to protect the neck or attract a potential mate, Big John’s one of the largest and “most striking” of any land animal, as per the UK’s Natural History Museum.

The herbivorous animals may be up to 5,500 kilograms (866 stone) and 9 meters (29 feet) in length.

At 8 metres tall, Big John is the biggest Triceratops dinosaur specimen ever found, as per the auction company. 

Comment below and tell us if you have such a fossil up close.