Koller - Out of This World Tuesday, 28 June 2022, 4pm

1862 A SKULL OF A XIPHACTINUS AUDAX Kansas, USA Middle Cretaceous (70-120 million years) 52 x 65 x 30.5 cm Provenance: Swiss Private Collection 112 million years ago, fish of the genus Xiphactinus audax lived alongside sharks and other creatures in the region where Kansas is today. This predator was better not to be met: the monster could be 4.5 to 6 meters long, and its impressive teeth were long and sharp. Thanks to its physique, it could develop a speed of about 60 kilometers per hour. Its appetite could not be satisfied: other fish, small turtles, pterosaurs, and young mosasaurs fell prey to it, sometimes even members of its own species. At least twelve specimens of Xiphactinus audax were found with prey in their stomachs, including one specimen of a five-meter long Xiphactinus that had swallowed a two-meter long fish, fromwhich the greedy primordial fish probably died. This imposing and museum quality Xiphactinus audax skull shows impressive three dimensionality of preservation and fearsome dagger-like teeth, the largest is over 5 cm long! Professionally mounted on a custom stone and brass stand. CHF 38 000 / 48 000 (€ 36 890 / 46 600) | 65