An "exceptionally rare" almost-complete skeleton of a young dinosaur is expected to fetch up to half a million pounds when it is auctioned off later.
The remains of the Allosaurus, one of the largest dinosaurs of the late Jurassic period, are believed to be the most complete juvenile of the species discovered so far.
The skeleton, known as Little Al and estimated to be up to 155 million years old, will go under the hammer at Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst, West Sussex.
Relatively complete dinosaur skeletons are "extremely rare", the auctioneers said, with those of young dinosaurs even more so.
Pieces of the Allosaurus were first discovered five years ago near a quarry in Wyoming in the United States, scattered over a wide area, and among the remains of a Sauropod dinosaur.
Experts have previously said the juvenile specimen has "the cute factor" and may attract buyers wanting an unusual statement piece for their living room.
Rupert van der Werff, director at Summers Place, said: "The Allosaurus, together with the T-Rex, has become the quintessentially large, carnivorous dinosaur in western popular culture.
"Given the size of this Allosaurus it also adds the cute factor and may not just attract interest from museums but could also be the wow factor in a luxurious living room."
Evolution curator Errol Fuller said: "Some of the bones are gigantic, some are tiny, but all must be approached with the same degree of caution to ensure that nothing of importance is overlooked.
"Once a bone, or series of bones, is located, the exact position is carefully mapped so that vital evidence is not lost when the specimens are finally removed from the ground."
The lot, which can only be bid on by phone or in person, has an estimated price of between £300,000 and £500,000.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here