A Stegosaurus skeleton It became the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction, selling for US$44.6 million in New York.
The dinosaur fossil was sold on Wednesday to an anonymous buyer after being approached by seven bidders, according to Sotheby’s, the auction house responsible for the sale.
The fossil, nicknamed “Apex”, surpassed the pre-sale estimate, which was between US$4 million and US$6 million.
Apex was discovered on private land in Moffat County, Coloradoby commercial paleontologist Jason Cooper in 2022, Sotheby’s said in a press release.
It was preserved in hard sandstone, which protected the bones from being distorted, Sotheby’s added.
Measuring 3.5 meters in height and with 254 fossil bone elements out of an approximate total of 319, evidence suggests that Apex was a “large and robust adult individual”, according to the auction house.
There is also evidence that the dinosaur may have had arthritis, which could suggest that it lived to an old age.
Despite the obvious commercial demand for Apex, some paleontologists have argued that the fossil should be displayed in a museum rather than sold to private bidders.
Steve Brusatte, professor of paleontology and evolution at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, told CNN in May that Apex was “an important dinosaur fossil,” especially because there are “far fewer good (stegosaurus) skeletons than other famous dinosaurs. like T. rex and Triceratops.”
“It’s a shame when a fossil like this, which could educate and arouse the curiosity of so many people, simply disappears in an oligarch’s mansion,” Brusatte said before the sale.
He added: “The super-rich will always be able to outbid museums when a dinosaur is sold on the open market, so my hope is that if there is someone with the means to buy a fossil like this, and this fossil captures their fancy, that they donate to a museum.”
Sotheby’s said Wednesday that the person who purchased the Apex “intends to explore loaning the specimen to a U.S. institution.”
According to the press release, the successful buyer said, “Apex was born in America and will stay in America.”
Wednesday’s auction wasn’t the first to offer dinosaur fossils to commercial bidders.
According to Sotheby’s, it sold “Sue,” a Tyrannosaurus rex and the first dinosaur to be sold at auction, for $8.4 million in 1997.
“Stan”, another Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, was sold for US$31.8 million in 2020.
Previous reporting by CNN’s Lianne Kolirin.
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