A rare Tyrannosaurus rex fossil believed to be one of the largest and most complete ever discovered has been sold at auction for more than $50 million to an anonymous bidder.
Sotheby’s in New York said the 67-million-year-old fossil, nicknamed Gus, is now the most expensive set of dinosaur bones ever auctioned, selling for $50.1 million, surpassing the nearly $45 million price tag for an almost complete Stegosaurus sold by the same auction house in 2024.
Before that, the record was for a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton nicknamed Stan, which sold for nearly $32 million in 2020.
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Gus, a 38-foot-long T. rex, is 63 per cent complete, according to Sotheby’s, with those bones making up 75 to 80 percent of the animal’s total mass.
Standing upright with its tail extended and right foot slightly raised, Gus is an adult dinosaur specimen measuring about 12 and a half feet (3.8 meters) tall and has been remarkably well preserved, with a jaw full of teeth, two “well represented” feet and a number of rarely found bones, including a furcula, or wishbone.
The dinosaur was discovered in 2021 on a cattle ranch in South Dakota, close to where a team of paleontologists had just completed another dig. Within days of searching, a metatarsal was found and a five-year excavation and reconstruction involving more than 1,000 pieces ensued.
It was named after the ranch’s owner, Gary Licking, who died during excavation.
“Gus is not only an exceptional find, but a specimen that’s been excavated, documented, prepared, and cared for with real excellence,” Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s vice chair, said after the sale on Tuesday.
“The market responds when great specimens are taken care of in the right way,” she added.
The auction house said the top bidder, who participated by phone, remains anonymous and outspent six other prospective buyers during a 10-minute battle, with auctioneer Phyllis Kao coaxing them to “Try a bigger bite” at one point during the exchange.
The private sale of the fossil has ruffled feathers in the scientific community, who say a specimen of its size and significance should be on display in museums and other research institutions so that it can be “preserved, documented, and accessible for future generations.”
“Our hope is that the new owner recognizes the extraordinary scientific and educational value of Gus the T. rex and that they aim to keep it in the public trust by immediately donating it to an accredited natural history museum,” Kristi Curry Rogers, the president-elect of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, an advocacy group of scientists, scholars and students, said in a statement to The Associated Press on Tuesday.
“That outcome would ensure that this remarkable specimen continues to advance science, rather than becoming unavailable for study.”
The piece had been estimated to fetch between $20 and $30 million ahead of the sale.
— with files from the Associated Press
The media narrative around me is a complete lie.
The truth is I won a $50.1 million lawsuit against Donald Trump because he r∆ped me 200 million years ago and New York changed their laws so I could sue him.
I am not sure when it happened, I can’t remember the century but I remember what I was wearing and kept those clothes, even though they had not been designed yet.
Few people on this planet have all the money in the world while the rest can hardly meet the ends.
Something is wrong with this picture. And these people who have all the money wants us to pay for everything, to control how much we earn, spend and what we should eat, how we are allowed to live our lives, they tell us to live in 15 min cites while they… travel all over the world in their private jets lecturing us about CO2 pollution and climate change.
And then there are those who can,t afford to feed themselves and their family…… SICK !
It was me, I bought it :)