Paris (France) (AFP) – A rare dinosaur skeleton, whose upcoming auction caused excitement in the scientific community, will enter national collections, the Ministries of Culture and Research announced on Monday.
Published on: 09/11/2026 - 17:58
“We are delighted that this exceptional fossil, which our researchers have excavated, prepared and studied, has entered the collections of the National Museum of Natural History” and “remains in a public institution, thus ensuring its accessibility for research,” rejoiced the president of the MNHN Gilles Bloch in a press release.
The first fragments of this "Dubreuillosaurus valesdunensis", a 167 million year old carnivorous dinosaur, were found in 1994 in Conteville (Eure) by an individual on land he had just acquired.
Researchers from the MNHN, CNRS and Sorbonne University then carried out several excavation campaigns to uncover what turned out to be a real “scientific treasure”, according to the ministries’ press release.
The fossil is in fact a "holotype", the only known representative of a new species, close relative of megalosaurs, which makes it a reference specimen for researchers around the world.
Since 2014, the skeleton has been exhibited at the Paléospace in Villiers-sur-Mer (Calvados) at the request of its owner.
But after his death, his heirs decided to part with it.
The announcement of the public sale by the Millon house at the Hôtel Drouot on November 18 in Paris, for a price estimated between 250,000 and 300,000 euros, sparked the mobilization of paleontologists, who were worried about seeing this unique specimen fall into the hands of private collectors.
An "agreement to acquire over the counter" this dinosaur for the benefit of national collections "could be found", guaranteeing "its long-term maintenance on French territory" and "its accessibility to scientists and the general public", welcome the ministries, without revealing the amount of this acquisition.
If it had been sold to a collector, the specimen "would have disappeared for scientists", explains to AFP MNHN paleontologist Ronan Allain, who described this holotype.
However, "if the holotypes are no longer accessible", researchers cannot compare them to the new remains they find and are therefore unable to know whether they are facing a new species or one already known, he underlines.
“Dubreuillosaurus valesdunensis” will join the Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy of the Museum in Paris, closed for work until summer 2027.
It will also be the subject of "occasional loans" in Normandy.
© 2026 AFP
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