A student, Mattéo Gagnaire, launched a petition that gathered nearly 5,000 signatures. An online fundraiser was opened in parallel in an attempt to keep the specimen for research. The dinosaur market has meanwhile soared. In early November, a Nanotyrannus specimen sold for 42 million euros at auction in New York.
This herbivore, discovered in Normandy in the 1990s, is a holotype: the only known specimen of its species. It very nearly ended up in a private collection.
The skeleton of Dubreuillosaurus valesdunensis will join the collections of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, the government announced. Two ministries released an exceptional grant to acquire the fossil by private sale and avert its being put up for auction.
The French acquisition remains a one-off victory. It does not halt the massive privatization of dinosaur fossils and does not spare enthusiasts of these specimens the need for structural reforms.
The stakes are also scientific. In a private collection, far from researchers, it would have been impossible to calibrate another similar fossil: the holotype serves as the reference for the species.
No museum could have released such a sum. The prospect of the sale sparked fierce anger in the scientific community.
Enthusiasts of this French dinosaur had raised 17,000 euros, far below the estimate. The fossil was initially due to be offered at auction in mid-November. The estimate, around 300,000 euros, seemed out of reach for French museums.