Gorgosaurus: 76-million-year-old skeleton to be auctioned

Gorgosaurus dinosaur skeleton to be auctioned by Sotheby's in New York

The skeleton of a Gorgosaurus - a relative of the Tyrannosaurus rex - that roamed the earth about 76-million-years ago will be sold at auction in New York this month.

The fearsome Gorgosaurus was an apex carnivore - that means it was a predator at the top of the food chain and was not preyed upon by any other animal at the time.

It lived in what is now the western United States and Canada during the late Cretaceous Period.

It lived before its relative the Tyrannosaurus rex by around 10 million years.

Gorgosaurus dinosaur skeleton to be auctioned in New York

The skeleton being sold was discovered in 2018 and is one of only a handful of Gorgosaurus skeletons to ever be found in the US, as most remains have been discovered in Canada, according to Sotheby's the auction house.

It was found in the Judith River Formation, near Montana in the north west of the USA - an area rich in fossils.

All of the other known Gorgosaurus skeletons are in museum collections, making this one the only specimen available for private ownership, the auction house said.

It measures nearly 3m tall and 6.7m long, so whoever buys it will need to have lots of space to keep it!

Sotheby's think the skeleton will sell for an impressive £4.1 million to £6.5 million.

The Gorgosaurus was a member of the Tyrannosaurid family, whose name translates as "fierce" or "terrifying" lizard.

Paleontologists believe they were even faster and more vicious than the Tyrannosaurus rex, and that they had a stronger bite than any animal on Earth today!

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