Rare T. Rex Fossil Could Become the Most Expensive Dinosaur Ever Auctioned
The 67-million-year-old fossil is expected to draw bids up to $30 million as museums and private collectors compete for the rare specimen.
- On Tuesday, Sotheby in New York auctions Gus, a 67-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton expected to fetch up to $30 million, billed as one of the most complete T-Rexes ever discovered.
- Unlike countries where fossils are state property, South Dakota laws allow private ownership, fueling a trend where ultrarich individuals increasingly acquire rare dinosaur specimens for personal collections rather than public institutions like the Field Museum.
- Discovered in South Dakota's Badlands Country, Gus comprises "an incredible 183 fossil bone elements," making it "approximately 61% complete by bone count," after Thomas Heitkamp spent three years excavating the dinosaur.
- Thomas Carr, a palaeontologist from Carthage College, labeled Gus an "artefact of nature, not an artwork to be sold," warning that private sales represent a "true loss for science."
- Sotheby sold a Stegosaurus named Apex to hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin for $44.6 million in 2024 and a rare Ceratosaurus for $30.5 million last year, highlighting surging commercial interest in dinosaur fossils.
19 Articles
19 Articles
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Hyun Young-bok = Regarding some wealthy individuals purchasing dinosaur fossils as symbols of wealth and status, [the view] that it 'could cause significant damage to fossil research'...
Since the death of Sam Neill, at the auction of the largest and most complete skeleton of T. rex in history, who will be able to win it? among protests and doubts
It will be put to auction Tuesday in New York for tens of millions of dollars, among many disputes of the scientific community
The New York auction house Sotheby's auctions one of the largest and most fully preserved T-Rex skeletons. The value of the fossil is estimated at $30 million.
A 67-million-year-old T-rex will be offered at auction in New York for the highest starting price ever set for a dinosaur.
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