Now Available: 'Samson', A 66 Million Year-Old T-Rex

If you are in the market for an almost perfect Tyrannosaurus-Rex (T-Rex), you better book your ticket to Las Vegas. For on October 3rd, Samson, one of the World's largest, most complete fossil of this ferocious dinosaur, will be up for grabs - to the highest bidder.

While the minimum bid has still not been released, auctioneers are hoping to get a price north of $6mm USD for this female dinosaur, which with 170 bones is the third most complete specimen of the T-Rex every found and one of only 42 specimens discovered in the last century, with more than 10 percent of the bones. While the price may see a little steep - Sue, the most complete T-Rex fossil ever found fetched $8mm USD - and it was just a bag of bones when bought.

Samson on the other hand, has had most of her bones mounted on a custom steel frame and is ready to be displayed at a museum or private mansion. The owner, an American whose name has not been revealed, is however hoping that she will end up at a museum. That's because some of her bones are still in a bag - And only a museum will have the wherewithal to spend the hundreds of hours it will take to add them to her frame.

Samson's fossil was found in stages. Her lower jaw was discovered in South Dakota in 1987, by a rancher. Then in 1992, the rest of her bones - 170 in all, were carefullyexcavated from the same region. Though she has been through two private owners, Samson has never been displayed in public prior to this.

While the auction is not until October 3rd, 2009, Samson and fourteen other fossilized marvels including a 28-foot duck-billed dinosaur skeleton and 7-foot fossil shark jaw, are currently on display at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.

The Tyrannosaurus Rex (Tyrant Lizard King in Latin), was one of the largest and most terrifying carnivores that roamed the North American continent, during the Cretaceous Era - 85 to 65 million years ago. The two-legged creature was a fierce predator that grew up to 40-ft tall and had 4ft long jaws and 13-inch long teeth. It could swallow up to 500 pounds of meat and bones in a single bite! The many theories as to why the T-Rex and other dinosaur species became extinct, range from dramatic climate changes to a comet hitting our planet annihilating all the animals - However, nobody knows for sure.

sources: happynews.com,bonhams.com,lasvegas.com, enchanted learning