An entire T. rex dinosaur skeleton is to be auctioned in Europe for the first time ever.
The approximately 67-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex - named TRX-293 Trinity - is estimated to fetch £4.5m - £7.2m.
Zurich-based Koller Auctions say it is only the third time worldwide a full skeleton of "exceptional quality" will go under the hammer.
Described as one of the most spectacular T. rex skeletons in existence, Trinity has a length of 11.6 metres (38ft) and a height of 3.9 metres (12.8ft).
Koller say the dinosaur has been mounted in a "dynamic and scientifically accurate" pose.
"It is among the finest specimens of one of the largest terrestrial predators ever to inhabit the Earth," they explain.
The more than 50 per cent original bone material comes from three Tyrannosaurus specimens excavated between 2008 and 2013, from the Hell Creek and Lance Creek formations in Montana and Wyoming.
Both sites are known for two of the most important Tyrannosaurus discoveries: ‘Sue’, which sold at auction for £7m ($8.4m) in 1997, and ‘Stan’, whose world-record hammer price of £26m ($31.8m) in 2020 catapulted dinosaur fossil prices into a realm usually reserved for the most sought-after works of art.
Each of Trinity’s 293 bones was painstakingly excavated, cleaned and restored before it could be assembled.
For an entire dinosaur, this process often takes between seven and ten years – an enormous effort for a team of palaeontologists, preparators and conservators.
Trinity’s rarity and importance is in large part due to its incredibly well-preserved skull, which comes from a single specimen.
Scientific advisor Nils Knötschke, one of the world's leading fossil preparators, says: "Dinosaur skulls are very rare; they are among the most valuable components of fossil skeletons.
"In fact, most dinosaurs are found without their skulls. But here we have original Tyrannosaurus skull bones, all from the same specimen.
"In all three specimens, the preparation was done very well, and the whole is very well preserved.
"I was particularly surprised that not only the vertebrae, but also the filigree spines of the dorsal and cervical vertebrae are present.
"The very fine bones from inside the skull are usually lost, and these are also preserved in Trinity.
Dr Hans-Jakob Siber, palaeontologist and director of the Dinosaur Museum in Aathal, Switzerland, adds: "I was impressed when I saw it, because it all seems to fit together so nicely. It’s one of the most impressive mounts I’ve seen.
"The quality of the restoration plus the quality of the mount sort of breathes life again into the specimen, which lived millions and millions of years ago.
"TRX-293 TRINITY would certainly be an astonishing attraction in any museum in the world."
The bone material from which TRX-293 is assembled dates to the Late Cretaceous period, making it 65 to 67 million years old.
T. rex was one of the last dinosaur species to exist at the time of the abrupt extinction of this order in the Cretaceous.
