Jurassic Park! Heathrow airport has unveiled a 13-metre high dinosaur skeleton at its Terminal 5, which it hopes will keep families entertained over Easter.
The skeleton is of a 155 million year old cousin of the diplodocus, which is set to be sold by French auction house Aguttes in June, and is expected to fetch £2 million.
The display is just in time for the Easter holidays, which will see 4.5 million passengers travel through the airport, many of whom will have dinosaur-obsessed children (much like this writer).
Archaeologist and special advisor to Aguttes Auction house, Eric Mickeler said that the skeleton is “currently the only diplodocus in the world with the imprint of its skin and therefore a world first”.
“The sheer size of dinosaurs awes people, they are immense, and that is part of their fascination for collectors,” said Mickeler.
“Buyers look for big impressive aesthetically attractive and well-preserved examples. It is also a case of supply and demand. There are very few found and so prices grow because there is a strong demand for them.”
It’s not the first time Heathrow has welcomed a dinosaur into its terminals – last year a stainless steel sculpture of a velociraptor was displayed at T5.
