As we've reported, I M Chait's Natural History auction is to include a selection of meteorites which will keep space collectors happy. The sparkling pallasite and silvery iron meteorite on offer are fine investment-grade collectibles.

However, these are not the lots headlining the sale. The honours fall to a selection of dinosaur fossils which can hardly fail to grab the attention of anyone who catches sight of them.

Leading the pack is the skull of a Tyrannosaurus Bataar - a close relative of the famous T-Rex, although it thrived on the Eurasian continent approximately 2 million years earlier. Many similarities exist between the two species, though the T.bataar is thought to have been slightly smaller.

T bataar dinosaur skull

Not that one would guess it from this incredible and enormous skull, with its great maw bristling with large, heavy curved teeth, their lovely woody patination in perfect harmony with the sandy gray of the highly textured bone.

With superb three-dimensionality and preservation it is a world-class specimen of exceptional size, the largest ever to be offered at auction. It measures approximately 45 x 24 1/2 x 31 inches on a custom metal stand.

Expected to bring $250,000-300,000, it will be offered to collectors in the sale which takes place on March 24 in New York and online.