Dinosaur tail discovered in Morocco auctioned off for charity

World

Published: 2018-01-17 10:58

Last Updated: 2024-03-28 14:36


A Mexican businessman made the highest bid. (Reuters)
A Mexican businessman made the highest bid. (Reuters)

A fossilized dinosaur tail discovered in Morocco was auctioned off in Mexico on Tuesday evening, reported Reuters.

The tail was up for auction at a reserve price of $95,805, according to organizer Morton’s Auction House.

Money made above the reserve price will be put towards the reconstruction of some 5,000 thousand schools damaged by two earthquakes that hit Mexico in September.

The BBVA Bancomer Foundation will be in charge of financing the reconstruction.

Adolfo Albo of the BBVA told Reuters that “Education is an element of enormous importance for the country, an element of social mobility, that is why we support the reconstruction of schools.”

A Mexican businessman, who asked to remain anonymous, was the highest bidder, according to Reuters.
The tail:

Discovery: Morocco
Age: Around 165 million-years-old
Species: Sauropod of the Atlasaurus imelakei species
Height: 4-metre-(13-foot)-long
Weight: 180-kg (396-pound)
Cleaning: Moroccan paleontologists spent 300 hours cleaning the tail. Scientists in Utah pieced it back together.