Archive for September 12th, 2013  Fossil of fatal dinosaur
combat to be sold at auction  Thursday, September 12th, 2013  A
pair of exceptional dinosaur fossils discovered on private land
in Montana in 2006 will be going up for auction at Bonhams in
New York on November 19th, and scientists aren’t too thrilled
about it. The pre-sale estimate is $7 million to $9 million, an
exorbitant sum for an institution, so the fossils and all the
unique information they contain might be lost to science should
they be snapped up by a private collector with deep pockets.
The fossils capture two extremely rare dinosaurs in what appears
to be the moment they killed each other 67 millions years ago.
The carnivore, Nanotyrannus lancensis, left some of his teeth in
the skull and neck of the herbivore Chasmosaurine ceratopsian.
In turn, Nanotyrannus’ chest and skull are crushed from a
powerful blow to the side, perhaps a well-placed kick from
Chasmosaurine. Nanotyrannus lancensis is either a relative of
Tyrannosaurus Rex or a juv