TRANSCRIPT
♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -I'll start by saying the events shown in this documentary are totally legal.
We're talking about a legitimate market.
We're talking about something going on in broad daylight.
♪♪ -Today, a new market is emerging around the world.
Wealthy enthusiasts are collecting dinosaur bones like others collect works of art.
-The coloring, the lighting, the textures on the bones can really be very beautiful.
-Fossils are the same as a painting, so you can have them both in a museum, you can both have them at home.
-Dinosaur skeletons are so rare, they stir up a great deal of excitement, which can lead to excessive speculation.
♪♪ -I always say that far fewer dinosaurs go on sale each year around the world than beautiful Picassos.
♪♪ -A specimen named Big John has once again created a buzz in the art world.
-That was a very impressive skeleton.
It was certainly a large skeleton, and I knew immediately we had a really cool skeleton.
♪♪ -This is the largest known triceratops in the world today.
But will it sell for a large price?
-1,500,000 will drive me to despair.
At 2 million, I won't be happy.
At 3 million, I'll be disappointed.
-From archeological digs to ornately decorated homes, from restoration workshops to auction halls, look behind the scenes at a new kind of business -- Jurassic fortunes.
♪♪ [ Bell tolling ] ♪♪ -My name is Iacopo Briano.
I'm an art dealer, but above all, I'm also a professional paleontologist and natural-history expert.
♪♪ I work with auction houses, especially French ones.
I'm the person who estimates the value of fossil and mineralogical remains and who also has a deep understanding of the market and who knows where to find the best pieces.
♪♪ ♪♪ It was obvious to me that dinosaurs were the most incredible chapter of natural history.
A dinosaur creates a visceral reaction.
Why visceral?
Because regardless of who it is, when people see the remains of these incredible creatures, these monsters from the past, they feel something.
Some get goose bumps, some want to run away, some get scared, and all because of the remains of these incredible animals that dominated our planet for 150 million years.
They had no predators.
They were the undisputed masters of this world, and then they disappeared.
Aesthetically speaking, these objects are incredibly beautiful.
There are, of course, many types of dinosaur buyers, from museums to private collectors, and one of them I'm particularly in contact with is Ralph.
-Ralph.
-Ralph.
Ralph is one of the most incredible collectors I've ever met.
♪♪ ♪♪ -Okay.
Welcome to my house.
Please come in.
♪♪ ♪♪ -As much as possible, I've always tried to contact collectors who are clearly eclectic... ♪♪ ...collectors who were open to new things, collectors who wanted to explore a new world.
♪♪ -My name is Ralph Wunsch.
I started a business 10 years ago called MetroDeal.
It's about online selling coupons.
And I live here in this house with my son, Michael.
♪♪ This is, I think, one of my favorite pieces in my collection.
The dinosaurs, they are 155 million years old.
They're from the Cretaceous period.
And one is the Diplodocus, the tall one, which is a herbivore, and one is a Allosaurus, which is a carnivore.
And they've been excavated in Wyoming in 2016.
♪♪ It's always very curious about dinosaur fossils, because when I was a little child, there have been, like, different fossils always displayed in the museums.
And I've been always kind of intrigued that, you know, fossils are same as paintings, so you can have them both in the museum, you can both have them at home.
♪♪ How it went in my case was, I was browsing through the Internet, and I saw a news article that said, "Dinosaur auction in Europe."
♪♪ So I went online and registered for that auction.
And then, eventually, after the auction, I was able to have the winning bid, luckily.
♪♪ ♪♪ -Alexandre Giquello, auctioneer.
♪♪ It's impossible to come up with a composite sketch of a dinosaur buyer.
But the vast majority of these enthusiasts are a completely new kind of buyer.
They're total novices, unfamiliar with public auctions.
♪♪ It's important to keep in mind that for essentially all of these buyers, the purchase was not planned.
However, some of them told us that consciously, or unconsciously, they'd always dreamed of buying a dinosaur, and now they had the opportunity to do it.
♪♪ -I'm Kléber Rossillon, owner of the Château de Marqueyssac and heritage enthusiast.
♪♪ ♪♪ I didn't buy Kan for myself.
It was for the public and visitors to Marqueyssac.
♪♪ A fossil like Kan is extremely precious, and we couldn't run the risk of accidentally damaging it.
So we produced a replica of the head and placed it on the body.
The original head is presented in a glass case next to the complete specimen.
His skeleton is quite complete because we have about 70% of it, and we have over 90% of the bones of his skull, which is simply exceptional.
♪♪ When you have an exceptional object like this one, that's totally unique, and at the time, there was nothing like it because it was the first sale of a dinosaur in France in years, maybe even decades, you have to ask yourself, "How much am I willing to spend to get it?"
It's a question that only you can ask yourself.
♪♪ Had someone bid higher than the price I'd offered, I wouldn't have acquired Kan, but I wouldn't have been dragged into a bidding war.
That's for the enthusiasts who really want something and must have it at all costs.
♪♪ -[ Speaking Italian ] -Auctioning off a dinosaur, setting it up on the podium and selling it to the highest bidder, definitely attracted attention.
But from the moment dinosaurs were first discovered, collectors have always been interested in them.
Beginning with the first discoveries in around 1850, professional paleontologists have spent their time in the field looking for exceptional pieces for big collectors -- museums, public collections, private collections.
What we do is absolutely nothing new.
♪♪ ♪♪ -My name is Thomas Carr.
I'm a vertebrate paleontologist, and I'm employed as an associate professor of biology at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
And I'm also director of the Carthage Institute of Paleontology, which brings us here to collect dinosaur bones.
And we've been doing that since 2006.
♪♪ What we have there is a triceratops carcass that originally lain on a floodplain, and the floodplain is the flat area next to a river.
And a triceratops carcass had rotted and fallen apart.
And we are following those bones into the hill.
♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Dinosaurs are very popular.
I think in global culture, everyone knows about dinosaurs, and they're almost victims of their own popularity.
So "Jurassic Park" was, I think, a very important moment for many young people.
It's great P.R.
for interest in dinosaurs and, beyond that, interest in science, in general.
But on the other hand, those films have produced a hunger for acquisition of real fossils.
That is undeniable.
And it's interesting that in the most recent "Jurassic World" film, an auction of living dinosaurs was featured.
I do think the main factor was the auction of Stan.
♪♪ -Stan's auction is key to understanding where the market is heading because Stan broke all the records.
He blew even the most optimistic expectations out of the water.
♪♪ -[ Speaking French ] -The huge specimen that sold in New York for an incredible price was presented all by itself at a modern-art auction.
That promotes the idea that a T. rex, because it was a T. rex, was considered a unique masterpiece in and of itself and put on sale at a modern-art auction.
♪♪ -Stan is an icon, a symbol, a brand.
How can you sell that?
How do you sell that in the French market?
♪♪ By holding a prestigious natural-history auction, called Naturalia, each year in Paris at Hôtel Drouot, Binoche & Giquello.
So you need a showstopper.
Exceptional items.
And in this case, it was dinosaurs.
Obviously, part of my job is tracking the latest major discoveries.
Knowing what's been found in the field every year, every season, doing the research, and that's very important.
So every so often, it's essential to pay a quick visit to the commercial paleontologists in the United States to go see their top sites.
♪♪ ♪♪ -My name is Walter Stein, and I discovered the dinosaur known as Big John the Triceratops.
♪♪ In 2014, I was out exploring a brand-new ranch, and there was a part of a Triceratops horn sticking out, there was pieces of frill, there was several vertebrae and several ribs.
It was a very impressive skeleton.
It was certainly a large skeleton.
And I knew immediately we had a really cool skeleton.
♪♪ Oh, I've loved paleontology, I've loved dinosaurs, since I was about 6 years old.
And so I'd build these massive Lego, Lincoln Log cities and then have Godzilla and his horde of mighty dinosaurs destroy them.
So that's -- that's how I got my start.
♪♪ Well, I've never done a calculation to find out exactly how many hours I've worked on Big John, but it's a lot.
It's a whole lot.
We have at least, I'd say, five months worth of work in the field just getting it out of the ground.
♪♪ And we use this -- it's called a plaster jacket.
We use the plaster jacket to get the bones back to the lab nice and safe.
This works just like if you had broken your arm and you go to the doctor.
So, 2014 and 2015, we excavated the skeleton.
And then, from 2015, '16, '17, '18, '19, we prepared it.
But for that whole time, for that five, six years, we had it listed on our website, we had it listed on social media.
There was no secret that we had found a large triceratops.
This was not hidden.
I sent some messages off to many people, many friends in academia and whatnot, and, uh, there were no takers.
No one -- no one was interested in it.
Because it's a -- it's "just a Triceratops."
"Just a triceratops."
Triceratopses are very common.
There's about 350 known skeletons and skulls of Triceratops.
And so, for six years, we waited.
We waited for somebody to come along and say, "Hey, we could -- we could do something with that.
We could put that together in the United States in one of our museums, a kids museum or one of the larger museums."
Nobody called.
Nobody came.
-Finding a dinosaur is one thing.
Preparing a dinosaur is another.
Essentially, my role in this auction and in previous auctions, was to connect two people, two worlds.
[ Bell tolling ] ♪♪ Zoic's decision, via Flavio Bacchia, to invest in Big John, to purchase the remains of Big John, wasn't made overnight.
-[ Speaking Italian ] -We turn piles of bones that most people can't begin to comprehend into jaw-dropping specimens for museums, exhibitions, or whatever.
♪♪ We needed a big dinosaur to continue the relationship we had started with the international auction houses who turn to us each year for curiosities or specimens for their natural-history auctions.
They expect something from us and ask us, "What have you got?
What have you got?"
♪♪ There was a Triceratops called Big John.
It was dug up in 2015.
There was nothing else.
Nothing.
A specimen that's been available for two years raises questions.
Why hasn't it been sold?
I even thought there might be a problem somewhere, that something was wrong with it.
-We discussed it a lot, and after a while, Flavio wanted to go out on a limb and try his luck.
"Fine.
I'll buy Big John."
He clearly sensed there was something there.
He felt those remains had potential.
-I requested information and prices.
It was clear there was no negotiation, no competition, because, after a while, we simply came to an agreement.
-You know, we weren't born with silver spoons in our mouth.
We don't have a six-figure income.
So my wife and I discussed it, and we -- we came to the conclusion that it's just a Triceratops.
It's one of 350 other specimens.
We have other Triceratopses on the shelf, and we have a buyer.
It's not the buyer I wanted.
I was hoping for a museum.
But it's a little hard to, uh -- to sell to a museum when you can't get them on the phone.
I wish it had stayed here.
I was sad when it left.
So I'll find another one.
♪♪ -The plaster jackets get shipped by plane.
The first batch arrives in November 2020 and the second in December 2020.
♪♪ We're talking about tons of plaster, matrix and bones.
♪♪ -[ Speaking Italian ] -There were far more bones in the blocks that were sent to us than what the finders had estimated.
♪♪ -At first, I thought we had a Triceratops that would be about 50% complete.
But Big John's skeleton ended up being 60% complete and its skull 75% complete.
♪♪ -We ended up with a much bigger skeleton, and although whoever dug it up knew it was big, they didn't realize just how big it really was.
We were incredibly lucky.
Had the person in possession of this Triceratops in the rough been aware of these two facts, the price would have been completely different and possibly beyond our means.
♪♪ ♪♪ -[ Speaking Italian ] -Reconstructing a dinosaur is like a huge puzzle.
The problem is, the puzzle has a thousand pieces and most of them have been broken in half by an obnoxious child.
It's a real nightmare.
♪♪ ♪♪ -[ Speaking Italian ] -Once the bones had been pieced back together and prepared, you see what's missing.
The missing parts are reconstructed.
Once the bones were giving us an idea of the animal's size, we took a scientific drawing of a Triceratops skeleton and printed out a life-size enlargement of it.
So we had this enormous Triceratops drawing on the lab floor, and as we worked on the bones, we laid them out next to it to see where they went, how they fitted, and to see if the sizes matched up or not.
♪♪ In the course of our work, we'd prepared two complete Triceratops skeletons and seven skulls, so we knew a Triceratops when we saw one.
And this one was bigger.
-[ Speaking Italian ] -And the teeth were much bigger, over twice as big as the ones we'd had before.
The Paleontology Institute of the University of Bologna got involved and sent someone over to do a thesis, and the paleontology professor supervised our work.
♪♪ ♪♪ -[ Speaking Italian ] -Part of the thesis work involved the student measuring all the bones of Big John's skull and comparing them to what was in the available literature.
-[ Speaking Italian ] ♪♪ -We knew of a skull measuring 8 feet, 2 inches.
Big John's was 8'7".
♪♪ -For about three weeks, I couldn't follow the preparation work.
I had been going back and forth to Trieste, but I wasn't able to go for a little while, and no one was saying anything.
Flavio wasn't really replying to my messages.
All he would say was, "I have a surprise for you.
You'll see."
♪♪ ♪♪ Finally, I was able to get to Trieste, and I saw Big John.
It was gigantic.
And they told me we have confirmation that it's the world's largest Triceratops.
And right there, I said, "We have a masterpiece here.
We really have a showstopper for the auction."
♪♪ ♪♪ How do we attract the attention of a potential buyer for Big John?
We show it off.
♪♪ We choose an area known for its art galleries and its fashion designers, and we put Big John in a showcase window so the public can see him.
And what do we get?
Immediate press coverage.
-[ Speaking Italian ] -The press from all over the world was talking about this dinosaur that had arrived in the center of Paris.
And this is how the media buzz carried the news to the right ears.
-[ Speaking Italian ] ♪♪ -[ Speaking French ] -When the handlers opened the crate, I saw Big John for the first time with my very own eyes.
I had direct contact with him.
♪♪ I was like a kid.
It was a very strange feeling.
Inexplicable.
-[ Speaking French ] -Five or six people were rolling it in.
♪♪ Just getting it through the door, perfectly calculated.
It was like a big show, all orchestrated, but out of necessity.
It was the beginning of an adventure.
[ Woman speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ -Guinness World Records is asking if we'd like to register Big John as the world's largest.
♪♪ Big John is the largest known Triceratops skeleton.
Obviously, Guinness World Records isn't the most scientific or the most academic distinction available, but we're talking about highly valuable publicity.
-[ Speaking Italian ] -Big John's no longer just a Triceratops, "just a dinosaur."
Massive amounts of people know about Big John, and he becomes famous and unique.
♪♪ -We have a very beautiful product, this large Triceratops.
We were fortunate to have considerable media coverage.
Now buyers are coming forward.
♪♪ -Amazed by the press coverage.
Fantastico.
-Interest in him is fantastic.
♪♪ -Thank you.
I appreciate.
We will keep in touch in less than one week, most definitely.
We wait for you, and we'll see you very, very soon.
♪♪ -That was Japan.
We now have six countries, six very interesting requests.
They obviously want all the details about the auction.
Time to get to work.
-With regard to the now global market for big-ticket dinosaur fossils, I'll just be honest with you.
I just wish the whole damn thing would collapse.
♪♪ So let's pretend we have a dinosaur fossil available for $1 million.
For a museum, $1 million can go a really long way.
$1 million could fund a decade of field programs like the one that I run here in Montana.
$1 million could -- you know, that could be several new salaries for people to work in a lab.
It could also fund an expansion of a gallery.
But $1 million for one fossil just isn't realistic for a museum to invest in.
-In reality, a great many collectors, more than I could ever imagine, who contacted us regarding prior auctions or the upcoming one for Big John, a huge specimen, promised to loan it or give it to museums.
♪♪ ♪♪ -I think paleontology is one of the perhaps unique sciences where the public and the academic community can really cooperate and interact in a symbiotic way.
I think it is one of these fields of science where an amateur can contribute and become involved.
My name is Henry Kriegstein.
I'm an ophthalmologist, but I've had an interest in dinosaurs for many, many years.
And although I'm not a paleontologist, I do like to study dinosaurs, to do field work, look for dinosaurs, and do some preparation and collecting.
♪♪ So, over the years, I've purchased dinosaur bones and fossils, but the ones that mean the most to me are the ones that I've been able to locate and collect myself.
[ Door creaking ] [ Dog barking ] In our house on Martha's Vineyard, we have a Triceratops skull kind of in the foyer.
When you enter the house, it's sort of the first thing you see.
It's a specimen that I collected in Montana many years back.
And it is a -- it does make an impression on guests who come to the house.
And I guess we have a certain degree of notoriety on the island as a result of this.
♪♪ What I enjoy about this hobby of collecting dinosaurs is to be able to get involved in the entire process, from locating fossils in the field, digging them out of the ground, taking them home, preparing them, mounting them, studying them, understanding how they fit into the jigsaw puzzle of life and the evolution of life on Earth.
And so these fossils mean more than just decorative objects to me.
♪♪ ♪♪ So, this is a cast of a dinosaur that's been named Raptorex Kriegsteini.
It represents a small species of Tyrannosaur, comes from Asia.
I purchased this specimen in a block of matrix at a fossil show in Tucson quite a few years ago.
And when it was being prepared for me in Utah, the group that was preparing it showed it to a paleontologist from the Denver Museum of Natural History.
And he sent me a letter saying that it was his opinion that this represented a species that was new to science.
And, you know, it was an important specimen and perhaps I would consider donating it to an institution where it could be studied and described and published.
So, reading this letter, I thought that he was quite right.
This was a specimen that I didn't realize was a new species, certainly, when I purchased it, and I decided I would donate it to the University of Chicago and for a TV show that he was involved with.
He had a reconstruction of the head that was made with feathers, as it most likely would have had in life.
And after the show was filmed, he gave me this bust of the dinosaur, which I have, along with a cast of the skeleton.
♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Over 260 million acres of land out there that the Hell Creek is exposed on.
♪♪ And I can take you to dozens of sites like this.
Nobody's working on them except for a handful of private collectors and ranchers.
♪♪ Right up above me here, you can see bone fragments just tumbling down.
This whole area is just a field of broken bones.
And I wanted to show you this because... this is what happens to a dinosaur if you don't collect it.
This is what happens to dinosaur bones when they are exposed to the elements, they slowly erode away to dust.
And if we're not out here to find this stuff and collect them, they are effectively lost to science.
In a museum setting, this is going to be in a basement, collecting dust.
But to a kid, if you got this in the hands of a kid or a teacher, this is inspiration right here.
This is a piece of once-living animal, one of the most incredible animals to ever walk the planet.
So for a kid, this is going to inspire the next generation of paleontologists.
So we can choose to try and find a compromise, a balance, between the two extremes, between academic and commercial, or we can put these fossils to use rather than just have them waste away.
That's what I try and do is find a compromise, a balance, so that this stuff gets in the hands of people who can use them for education, for teaching.
♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -[ Speaking French ] -The question of confiscating worldwide cultural-heritage objects from private owners comes up often.
However, if for some unbelievable reason, public paleontology auctions were forbidden, not only would the digs continue, but the finds would end up on the black market and be sold under the table.
So public auctions aren't an issue for museums.
On the contrary, they're a way of regulating a market, which clearly exists, with total transparency.
[ Indistinct conversations ] ♪♪ -Turn it?
-Yes, turn it.
♪♪ This should be shown.
This part here.
♪♪ ♪♪ -When Big John arrived at Hôtel Drouot, we had about a dozen registered clients.
In 2020, we had three registered clients for a dinosaur.
This time, we've got a total paradigm shift.
♪♪ -We need to be sure the buyers are solvent and credible.
That's why we required bank guarantees and a nonrefundable deposit of 200,000 euros should the buyer default.
♪♪ -It's auction day.
In four or five hours, the bidding on Big John will take place with people in the room, on the phone, on the Internet, and he'll be sold.
It's almost hypnotic.
You're on automatic pilot.
♪♪ -[ Speaking French ] -Auctions are always a show, but in this case, it's a very special show because you have a considerable number of journalists, dozens of cameras, TV crews, microphones.
Before the auction, everyone wanted to put lapel microphones everywhere.
There were microphones on the podium.
♪♪ -Entering the room and seeing half the available space taken up by journalists shows you the magnitude of the media buzz.
I'd gladly trade 10 journalists for one buyer.
[ Gavel bangs ] -[ Speaking French ] -Ladies and gentlemen, welcome.
Welcome to Hôtel Drouot for this rather special auction.
We'll begin with the showstopping lot.
-I don't know if Big John will sell, and I haven't the slightest idea of how much, if it sells, it might fetch.
-I'd like to quickly remind you of the terms of the auction.
-These past few years, I have seen prices that aren't prices.
They are utterly crazy numbers.
And I've also seen zero, nothing.
-1.5 million, I'd be in total despair.
2 million, I wouldn't be happy.
3 million, I'd be disappointed.
Disappointed for the seller and for myself, for everyone.
-Triceratops simply doesn't have the cachet that a complete T. rex does.
But, regardless, if it is the great specimen that it will be claimed to be, then there will be maybe some competitive bidding for it.
But I really hope it doesn't sell.
But it probably will, and it will probably sell for top dollar.
-And we'll start the bidding directly at 1 million euros.
We've obviously got a taker at 1 million euros.
The auctioneer's job is to appraise, guarantee the transactions, and drive the buyers crazy.
When the buyers in the room are going crazy, the auction is obviously going well.
1,001,000.
1,200,000.
300, 400, 500, 600.
You have to fuel their desire.
You have to spark love, passion, and surely a little jealousy, too.
2 million.
2 million with me.
Not here.
2,200,000.
300.
400.
2,600,000.
♪♪ -I'm focusing on my notes on my computer.
When I look up at the screen, without realizing what was happening, I see we've already had 3 or 4 times the initial estimation.
♪♪ -200.
300.
400.
-Then they really start thinking.
You see that people are reaching their limits.
Someone who's ready to go fast, up to a certain point, with no problem whatsoever starts wondering if that's really how much they want to spend or if they'd like to add a little bit more.
♪♪ -4,500,000 by phone.
Nothing else in the room?
-600.
4,600,000.
-4,600,000.
-[ Speaking Italian ] -At a certain point, it comes down to a battle between the last remaining high bidders.
And there, the bids are few and far between.
♪♪ -No one's budging?
That's a surprise.
♪♪ Here, in the room?
4,800,000.
♪♪ -5 million.
♪♪ -[ Speaking Italian ] -There are two bidders left -- one phone call, one quick bid in the room.
A lot of thinking.
♪♪ -We've got enough time for you.
♪♪ -5 million here.
By phone?
Aurélia?
Nothing else for us?
5,200,000.
♪♪ Against you, Arthur.
Objects find their buyers.
Meaning, when you have a beautiful object, you have beautiful buyers.
-We're at 5,200,000 for the moment.
While we await news from across the Atlantic.
What's it worth?
1 million?
2 million?
5 million?
10 million?
No one knows.
You start the bidding, and then you get the price.
It's the price that satisfies the desire, as we say in this business.
With two seriously motivated buyers, the price can far exceed your expectations.
Here in the room, 5,200,000.
Going once, going twice... ♪♪ 5,300,000.
[ Audience exclaims, scattered laughter ] 500,000.
There you go.
-5.5 million.
So now you have to try to get the person on the phone to engage again.
But you saw them hesitating at 5.4 million.
Do you want to bid 5.6 million?
-5,500,000 going once, going twice... -Really?
You're okay with this?
No regrets whatsoever?
-Are you sure?
Arthur, no e-mail to send?
A text message?
5,500,000 going once, going twice.
[ Gavel bangs ] Sold for 5,500,000 euros.
[ Applause ] -Applause.
The crowd goes wild.
The journalists run to him.
♪♪ -You know, ethics loses again.
Science just lost again.
So it's not good for anybody, especially science.
-For an American collector?
-It's for an American collector.
That's correct.
-A man or a woman?
-He's a great person.
[ Laughter ] -The maximum price for you, it was, uh... -Was 1 million.
No, just kidding!
[ Laughter ] -The name of the buyer, or...?
-No, I cannot.
I mentioned that it's being acquired by an American collector, and that individual is absolutely thrilled with the idea of being able to bring a piece like this to his personal use.
It's a piece that we saw and initially fell in love with it.
The history behind this and the curation of it is absolutely impressive.
So to be able to be a part of preserving something of this nature that was actually found in the U.S., in South Dakota, is also something extremely special.
♪♪ -This was the highest result ever attained for a dinosaur sold at auction in Europe.
It's unbelievable.
I was expecting a good result but not this good.
Undeniably, the sale of Big John earned me a lot of money.
We're talking about fees representing a percentage of the selling price.
So the more Big John sells for, the more I make.
But, honestly, the satisfaction lies elsewhere.
Having the opportunity to work on Big John goes well beyond the financial gain.
-The market for dinosaur fossils is undoubtedly growing.
We sense a new trend is beginning.
So we can imagine that the future will be rather bright.
-It was a crazy journey, and I'll surely miss it.
I don't know.
♪♪ ♪♪ -My name is Sarah Cole.
I'm the president and CEO of the Glazer Children's Museum.
And we are talking about the Big John the Triceratops exhibit.
Today is the opening day of Big John the Triceratops.
We just -- just wrapped up an amazing day with all of our guests.
And, you know, we're just really excited about this possibility.
[ Indistinct conversations ] Less than two years ago, we were contacted by the Pagidipati family.
They're a family here in Tampa Bay with a very interesting question.
They said, "We have a dinosaur.
Would you be interested in exhibiting it?"
And of course the answer was yes.
-The Pagidipati family bought Big John at the auction in 2021.
Keen to find a place where the public could visit the Triceratops, they reached out to the Glazer Children's Museum in Tampa, Florida.
-And I immediately jumped online and started looking into things and tried to learn as much as we could about the specimen, about the dinosaur, you know, as much as we could so that we could present a really strong proposal.
♪♪ We have not done anything like this here at this children's museum before, and we got really excited about it.
So, you know, several months of back-and-forth, really talking about what we could do as an organization, what made us different than some of the other museums that they might be talking to.
And just about a year ago this time, we got the phone call that the family had selected us to be the museum that exhibited Big John.
-I'd like to be able to share that back with the community and bring dinosaurs to here, because not everyone can travel.
And now people can come to the Children's Museum and be able to get a full interactive, immersive experience with the largest Triceratops in the world by Guinness Book of World Records.
-The Pagidipati family, when they -- when they purchased this dinosaur, when they, you know -- the minute that sale went through, their thoughts immediately went to, "How do we get this on display?
Where do we display this?
How do we get kids to see it?"
You know, we know -- we know about this family, that they are very devoted to children.
We were trying to work out how long we would have Big John here.
And where we landed was a three-year initial loan.
So we're in constant contact with the family, who has collaborated with us to be able to exhibit this.
We have collaborated with scientists around the globe to make sure that our content is accurate and that we're telling the best story.
We've collaborated with designers to create this great space.
-This is his first museum appearance, and we are so excited to have him here and share everything we can about Big John with you.
Does anyone have any questions about Big John?
Yes.
-How old is Big John?
-Big John is about 68 million years old.
-For the museum, there was a lot of work to be done before Big John's arrival.
-Because the ground would freeze in the winter.
-It's very different from what we normally do, so we gave ourselves a nice, long runway to make the entire experience really good.
Originally, we had proposed opening it in the spring, but we also recognized, as we got into things, that we wanted enough time to really do it right.
to get our staff fully, fully trained on how to work with a fossil, how to work with talking about Big John.
We've been doing some tests, you know, opening in small groups, one school group, and the first group that we brought in was a group of first-graders from a local school.
And all of us who've worked a lot of hours on this exhibit sat in a corner so that we could watch because, you know, that's the test.
Is it going to be good?
And the gasps and the "Awws" and the "Oh, wow!
Look how big he is!"
was just -- it made everything perfect.
Almost everybody who walks in here, when they see him in that up-close moment and get as close as they can with him, there's definitely awe.
There's -- There's smiles across faces and just gasps.
He's -- He's amazing.
He's a monster but a beautiful one.
[ Chuckles ] ♪♪ As such, it is a limited supply of what these -- of these specimens around the world.
There are plenty we haven't discovered yet, but we don't know how many we haven't discovered yet.
So, you know, there's probably not enough beautiful specimen, full dinosaurs for every museum to have one.
I want to make sure that people see this.
I want to make sure that I'm sharing it with the community.
And I hope that more and more private owners understand that joy and see that excitement and that possibility.
♪♪ ♪♪
