Newsademic British English edition 260

o u n g
 
A
l
 
f a il s
 
to
 
sell
An unusual auction took place in 
the UK on 25th November. Valuable 
paintings, ceramics or jewellery are 
often sold at auctions. Yet this one 
was held to sell a 2.8-metre (9.3 feet) 
long fossilised dinosaur skeleton.
The fossilised bones are from a 
young, or juvenile, 
Allosaurus.
U n­
usually, almost all o f this dinosaur’s 
bones were found. In Ancient Greek 
Allosaurus
means ‘different lizard’. 
The average length o f a fully-grown, 
or adult, 
Allosaurus
was 8.5 metres 
(28 feet).
Allosaurus
looked similar to the 
more-famous 
Tyrannosaurus rex.
Tyrannosaurus
is Greek for ‘tyrant 
lizard’ and 
rex
is Latin for ‘king’. 
The two dinosaurs lived at differ­
ent times. 
Allosaurus
walked on the 
Earth about 150 million years ago. 
T. rex,
which was several metres 
longer than 
Allosaurus,
lived around 
66 million years ago. This was the 
time when the dinosaurs became 
extinct. Scientists are not sure why 
this happened. Some believe that

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26th November 2015 
N e w s a d e m ic .co m ™
 - British English edition 
page 
4
they died out when a large asteroid 
hit the Earth. Others think that huge 
volcanic eruptions poisoned the air 
and blocked out the Sun.
Allosaurus
was a carnivore, or 
meat eater. It walked on two legs 
and had an oversized skull and big, 
sharp, saw-like teeth. The dinosaur’s 
long, powerful tail balanced its large 
head. The front arms, or limbs, were 
very short. Each ended in three fin­
gers with sharp curved claws. 
Allo-
saurus
are believed to have hunted 
in packs. They probably preyed on 
other larger plant-eating dinosaurs.
A llosaurus skeleton
A German palaeontologist, or 
scientist who studies fossils, dug up 
the 
Allosaurus
skeleton. He found 
it in the state o f Wyoming, in the 
USA. Only one other young 
Allo­
saurus
has ever been found. Most 
o f this one’s bones were missing. 
The bones in Wyoming were scat­
tered over a wide area. They were 
mixed up with the bones o f a sauro- 
pod. These dinosaurs had very long 
necks and tails. They walked on four 
thick legs. Sauropods ate vegetation 
such as grasses, and the leaves and 
smaller branches o f trees. Some 
grew to an enormous size.
The excavation o f the 
Allosau­
rus
’ bones took three years. The 
skeleton is the most complete juve­
nile 
Allosaurus
skeleton ever found. 
It has been nicknamed ‘Young 
A l’. Even though fossils are usu­
ally called bones, they have really 
turned into stone.
Two years ago the German sci­
entists managed to sell another di­
nosaur skeleton. It was found in the 
same area of Wyoming. This dino­
saur was a type of sauropod called 
diplodocus. It also lived about 
150 million years ago. The scien­
tist was allowed to take the bones 
out o f the USA. This was because 
they were found on private land. 
He and the landowner agreed to 
share the money from the auction. 
The diplodocus sold for £400,000 
(US$601,500). It was bought by a 
museum in Denmark.
The company arranging the auc­
tion expected Young Al to sell for 
between £300,000 and £500,000 
(US$451,000 
and US$752,000). 
However, the offers, or bids, re­
ceived were all below the reserved 
price. This is the minimum amount 
that an owner has decided to sell 
something for. The auction com­
pany now expects other possible 
buyers, who did not take part in the 
auction, to make higher bids. □
S