Las Vegas NowAuctioneer: T. rex fossil headed for museum
Associated Press - November 11, 2009 7:35 PM ET
LAS VEGAS (AP) - An auctioneer says a fossilized Tyrannosaurus rex that failed to sell at auction in Las Vegas last month has been bought by a private buyer who intends to have it displayed in a museum.
Tom Lindgren of auction house Bonhams & Butterfields told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the buyer is talking with several museums in North America.
The fossilized bones are of a 40-foot-long, 7.5-ton dinosaur that lived 66 million years ago.
Bidders didn't meet a minimum price when the T. rex, dubbed "Samson," went on the block at the Venetian hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip.
Lindgren says he can't reveal the buyer or what he paid. But he says it was near pre-auction estimates of $5 million to $8 million.
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