STURGIS, S.D. — A 67-million-year-old triceratops skeleton found in Perkins County, South Dakota was recently resold for $7.7 million and is set to reside at Glazer Children’s Museum in Tampa Bay, Fla.
Debuting May 26, Big John will become Tampa Bay’s first-ever large fossilized dinosaur skeleton on long term display.
At nearly 26-feet long and 10-feet high, Big John is the centerpiece of Glazer’s brand new exhibit, which will take viewers into the Late Cretaceous period.
According to a press release, the exhibit will include tunnels with clear domes, where curious viewers can pop up and see the 66-million year old skeleton from underneath.
Roughly the size of an RV, the fossil is 60% complete, and is estimated to be 5-10% larger than any other known triceratops.
Walter Stein, a professional dinosaur fossil hunter and vertebrate paleontologist who specializes in Late Cretaceous theropods, discovered the fossil. Stein unearthed Big John in what is called the the Hell Creek Formation. The formation has produced important assemblages of invertebrates, plants, mammals, fish, reptiles, and amphibians, providing an impressive inventory that includes dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops. The formation stretches over portions of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
Named after the ranch in Perkins County where it was discovered, Big John was later sold to an Italian firm in Paris, France. Tampa’s Pagidipati family purchased Big John at auction in 2021 for a record $7.7 million, the second largest sale ever for a set of dinosaur fossils.
The sale was controversial at the time, and added fuel to an ongoing debate about the ethics surrounding private auctions which drive up sales of scientifically valuable fossils and often prevent scientists from further studying the specimens.
Big John made headlines last year, when a study published in Nature suggested that the gigantic triceratops was likely involved in a violent encounter before its death.
The study states that a rival triceratops may explain why Big John has a keyhole-shaped opening on its frill.
Signs of healing on the skull also suggest that he did not immediately die from this injury but perhaps from infection months later.
“The location, shape and size of the lesion suggest that it was caused by the horn of another Triceratops of similar size,” said lead researcher Ruggero D’Anastasio, a professor of biological anthropology at G. d’Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara in Italy to LiveScience.
Big John’s new exhibit opens Memorial Day weekend at Glazer Children’s Museum in Tampa Bay, Fla.
