Unique 'Duelling Dinosaurs' Fossil to be Auctioned in New York

The 'Duelling dinosaurs' fossil will be auctioned at the Bonhams auction house, New York next week. The auction is slated for Nov. 19. The Bonhams auction house expects these fossils to make a profit of about $9 million in sale.

What makes these fossils different from the rest is that these dinosaurs are believed to have died in combat together around 67 million years ago and by some quirk of nature were buried together and were fossilized.

The fossils are guessed to be of a Triceratops-like creature and a tyrannosaurid, which has got crushed teeth and  a broken skull, Live Science reported.

The fossils are 17-metre long and were discovered way back in 2006 in a ranch located in Montana.

"They are so important to science because of the fact they were found in a context that appears to be they killed each other," Thomas Lindgren, of auction house Bonhams, told BBC.

Clayton Phipps, also known as Dinosaur Cowboy, discovered the fossil  and is a well-known fossil hunter and a rancher.

"The sale from that gave me about a year's wages," Phipps told Live Science. "I told my wife, 'I'm gonna take a year and see if we can survive."

This auction will also allow scientists to come together and discuss their findings about fossils of different species with others. There is some skepticism surrounding the auction  among scientists. Once such discoveries are auctioned off they are more or less lost to the scientific world for research. Very few researchers or organizations have the wherewithal to buy such specimens.

"Fossil dealers have in the past presented the more sensational of a range of interpretations of their finds to boost price," explained Pete Makovicky, a curator specializing in dinosaurs at The Field Museum in Chicago, "so there needs to be a careful evaluation of the evidence."

The auction will put up about 70 fossils of dinosaurs, reptiles, fishes and other species for sale, which are likely to fetch around $15 million.