French state acquires rare dinosaur skeleton to prevent auction sale

The French government agreed to purchase the skeleton of a 167 million year old carnivorous dinosaur to keep it in a public collection.

The specimen, which is the only known representative of its species, will join the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. Scientists identified the fossil as a new species of theropod dinosaur called Dubreuillosaurus valesdunensis. The discovery in the Normandy region provided researchers with a well preserved skull that helped clarify the anatomy of megalosaurs.

This fossil is one of the few remaining dinosaur traces in the area because previous specimens were destroyed during bombing raids in 1944. The heirs of the owner planned to sell the skeleton at an auction in Paris on 18 November. French authorities intervened to reach a mutual agreement for the state to acquire the fossil instead.

The museum plans to display the skeleton in the Gallery of Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy at the Jardin des Plantes when it reopens in the summer of 2027.