London, UK

Sotheby's announced on Tuesday (July 11) that two mounted dinosaur skeletons will be auctioned off later this month in New York. One of the skeletons is of a fierce flying reptile and the other is evocative of the Loch Ness monster. 

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Sotheby's said that the skeleton that evokes the Loch Ness monster is estimated to draw between $600,000 and $800,000 and the flying reptile called pteranodon, with a wing span of about 20 feet, is estimated at $4 million to $6mn. 

Auction of flying reptile 

A plesiosaur was last auctioned in Paris in 2010 and had come from a private collection in Germany at the time. 

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As quoted by AFP, Cassandra Hotton, Sotheby's head of Science and Popular Culture, said that the remains, which are nearly 11 feet long, were found in a quarry in England in 1990. The skeleton is about 75 per cent complete and in exceptional condition. 

Palaeontologists have said that the plesiosaur, with its small skull, long neck and flippers, existed around 190 million years ago during the Lower Jurassic period. 

In a news release, Sotheby's said, "The history of the Plesiosaur is also intertwined with the elusive Loch Ness monster of Scottish folklore, as many have drawn morphological comparisons between the Plesiosaur and the infamous 'Nessie,' whose sightings stretch back to the sixth century." 

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Named Horus after an Egyptian god, it will be auctioned on July 26 at a Sotheby's event focused on natural history. This particular specimen was found in the US state of Kansas.

At Sotheby's galleries, it is displayed outstretched in a flying position. 

The auction house said, "Other than standard bone joining and stabilization, almost all of the original fossil bones remain essentially unrestored, meaning that artificial filler was not used to replace missing bone sections."  

Also read: Bees outgun humans in making swift, better decisions for things that matter to them: Study 

Fascination over Loch Ness monster

There's immense fascination over the Loch Ness Monster, affectionately known as 'Nessie'. This so-called creature is a part of Scottish folklore and is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. 

Loch Ness monster is often described as large, long-necked, and with one or more humps protruding from the water. 

There's a viral "surgeon's photograph" which is reportedly the first photo of the creature's head and neck. 

It is said that it was taken by Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London gynaecologist, and it was published in the Daily Mail on 21 April 1934. However, later it is known to have been a hoax. 

(With inputs from agencies)

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