A 150-million-year-old complete and mounted skeleton of a dinosaur has failed to sell at a New York auction.

There are only two skeletons of its kind in the world - the other Dryosaurus skeleton in existence is on display at the Carnegie Museum in Philadelphia, the IM Chait Gallery said in a statement before its Natural History Auction.

The 150-million-year-old, 2.7-metre long, 0.9-metre wide skeleton of the Jurassic Age dinosaur was discovered in Wyoming in 1993, and was expected to sell for between $440,000 to $500,000.

Although two US museums expressed interest in the dinosaur skeleton, they could not afford the minimum bid.

The fossil was dug up by Western Paleontological Laboratories in Lehi, Utah, which was selling it for economic reasons. It took two years to reconstruct the skeleton.