Dinosaur for sale: Most complete ‘velociraptor’ skeleton up for auction

A piece of prehistory is going up for sale and it could be yours for about $6 million.

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Christie’s NYC will be auctioning off what is being called the most complete Deinonychus antirrhopus — more commonly known as a velociraptor — skeleton known to exist, WNBC reported.

According to Christie’s listing, the skeleton contains about 126 fossil bones, with the remaining made of casts all supported by a custom frame.

The lot is called “The Raptor” — thanks to popular culture — and will be part of Christie’s New York Spring Marquee Week of sales.

According to the auctioneers, the skeleton was found in Wolf Canyon, Montana, from where the current owner obtained it, but has been held in a private collection.

The fossil has the name “Hector” after the “greatest of the Trojan warriors,” Christie’s wrote.

The Deinonychus antirrhopus roamed western North America during the early Cretaceous period, or about 50 million years before the Tyrannosaurus rex, according to Christie’s. It was a theropod, a carnivorous dinosaur that walked on two legs. It is known for its sickle-shaped claw that would slice prey when the raptor would kick. That claw gave the Deinonychus its name in 1969 since it means “terrible claw.”

Scientists believe the dinosaur used its arms to hold prey, stood on one leg and kicked with the other, using its claw to slice prey open. The dinosaur’s long tail contained bundles of bony rods helped it to balance.

Scientists believe the Deinonychus was a fast and agile runner, pointing to a femur that is shorter than the other lower leg bones. It also had a lighter skull and enlarged optic lobes in the skull that gave it “exceptional eyesight,” Christie’s said.

The dinosaur had between 60 and 70 razor-sharp teeth that gave it a deadly bite. Scientists believed that it fed and hunted in packs.

The name Velociraptor came from the “Jurassic Park” books and films, where they were used frequently and where the popularity of the dinosaurs grew, Christie’s said. While author Michael Crichton used the name Velociraptor in the books, he based the dinosaur’s behavior, size and appearance on the Deinonychus and apologized later for changing its name.

“It’s the dinosaur that everybody wants to see,” James Hyslop, the head of science and natural history at Christie’s, said in reference to “Jurassic Park,” according to The New York Times. “As memorable as that moment is with the water glass shaking from the T. rex, the bit that really scares us is the bit with the raptors hunting those kids.”

Fans of the dinosaur will have their chance to see the skeleton before the sale, as “Hector, The Raptor,” is on display at Christie’s until May 11, the day before the sale, WNBC reported.

Hector is expected to bring in between $4 million and $6 million, The New York Times reported.

But not everyone agrees that dinosaurs should be auctioned.

Some paleontologists are afraid that auctioning dinosaurs will allow them to become the property of someone who has no interest in science or allowing the public to see something so rare.

“It would be a huge shame for science, and for the public, if this disappeared into the basement of an oligarch,” Steve Brusatte, a professor of paleontology and evolution at the University of Edinburgh, told the Times.

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