London: An almost complete skeleton of a caenagnathid dinosaur, named 'Spike', is now on display at Christie's auction house in London before it will be auctioned in December. The fossil was discovered in the US two years ago and has amazed palaeontologists with its almost complete bone structure. It is estimated to sell for 3-5 million pounds, as experts believe its condition is extremely rare. Christie's head of science and natural history, James Hyslop, said Spike belongs to a dinosaur group called caenagnathids, which lived around 66-68 million years ago. "He's just an incredible fossil. We've never had anything like this before." Hyslop said, adding that fossils this complete are very hard to find, and he's just a wonder to behold. Hyslop said Spike's bones look different from other studies so far, and it may even be a new species, which has excited researchers. The fossil was discovered on private land, and the market for dinosaurs has been booming in recent years. Hyslop figures the buyer would likely keep Spike available for public viewing, possibly through a museum or international exhibition."One thing we do notice is that the people who buy and own these things want to share them and display them to the world. So I fully anticipate that after Christie's, he's been seen here to the public at Christie's, he will next be seen somewhere, either on loan or with a museum somewhere internationally," he said. Other items up for auction include a film camera used in the production of the original Star Wars trilogy, along with a Batpod, used during filming of The Dark Knight films.
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