'Barry' the extraordinary dinosaur skeleton heading for auction in Paris
Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of Steven Spielberg's beloved dinosaur movie Jurassic Park is a very special sale of a unique artifact - Barry the dinosaur.
Barry, an adult skeleton of Camptosauridae from the family Iguanodontidae, represents one of the earliest groups of dinosaurs ever discovered. He will be auctioned by the renowned Giquello auction house at Paris' Hôtel Drouot on 20 October 2023.
Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, palaeontologists grappled with questions about the locomotion and balance of Iguanodontidae dinosaurs, debating whether they were bipedal or quadrupedal and what their tail positions revealed about their movement.
It is estimated that Barry will sell for around $1.2 million (£1 million).
Expert Iacopo Briano shares his thoughts on this exceptional specimen: "I'm particularly proud this year to be able to offer for sale at Drouot, for Giquello auction house, a specimen of such impeccable quality and with such an interesting provenance as that of Barry."
Barry has played a crucial role in this quest for knowledge, and in 2023, it will contribute to a major scientific breakthrough in our understanding of iguanodontids.
Barry's story was resurrected in the early 2000s when its bones were unearthed in the fossil-rich Morrison Formation in Wyoming, USA, after 150 million years of silence. Under the guidance of palaeontologist Barry James, the Prehistoric Journeys laboratory initiated the first steps of Barry's revival, relying on the scientific knowledge of the time.
This extraordinary specimen subsequently caught the attention of a renowned American neuroscientist and astrophysicist, who proudly displayed it in her Colorado home for over two decades until 2022, when the Italian company Zoic acquired it for an extensive rediscovery project. Barry's preparation has adhered to the latest scientific techniques and studies.
