150-million-year-old dinosaur Barry to be sold in Paris auction

An unusually well-preserved dinosaur skeleton, a Camptosaurus known as Barry, will go under the hammer in Paris next month.

The dinosaur, which dates from the late Jurassic period some 150 million years ago, was first discovered in Wyoming in the 1990s. It was initially restored in 2000 by palaeontologist Barry James, from whom it got its name.

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Italian laboratory Zoic, which acquired Barry last year, has done further restoration work on the skeleton, which is 2.1 meters (6.9 feet) tall and 5 meters (16.4 feet) long.

“It is an extremely well-preserved specimen, which is quite rare,” said Alexandre Giquello, from Paris auction house Drouot, where the sale will take place.

“To take the example of its skull, the skull is complete at 90% and the rest of the dinosaur (skeleton) is complete at 80%,” he said.

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Dinosaur specimens remain rare on the art market, with no more than a couple of sales a year worldwide, Giquello said.

The skeleton, which will be shown to the public in mid-October, is expected to fetch up to €1.2 million ($1.28 million) when it goes on sale on October 20.