Science
Rare Nanotyrannus Skeleton Fetches Millions at New York Auction
The multimillion-dollar sale of a rare dinosaur skeleton revives an ongoing debate among scientists regarding private fossil ownership.
By Headlinne · Compiled from reporting by BBC, Globe and Mail, Guardian and 1 other
An anonymous buyer purchased a rare dinosaur skeleton known as Jodi for $47.3 million at a Sotheby's auction in New York on Tuesday, making it one of the most expensive fossils ever sold.
The 12-minute auction featured six bidders competing online and by phone, easily surpassing the auction house's initial estimate of $6 million to $9 million.
The final price places the specimen just behind a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil named Gus, which sold for $50.1 million earlier in the year at the same auction house.
The sale intensifies a broader debate within the scientific community over whether significant dinosaur remains should be preserved in public institutions or sold to private collectors.
Some researchers warn that such high-profile transactions could keep important specimens out of reach for academic study and public display.
Thomas R Holtz Jr, a vertebrate paleontology researcher at the University of Maryland, said that his concerns regarding the sale match broader worries about multimillion-dollar fossil transactions.
Holtz said that museums face severe funding shortages while millions are spent on single specimens, noting that a well-funded institution could gather multiple skeletons for the same cost.
Other experts defend the sales, pointing out that commercial excavators invest substantial time, effort and money into recovering the fossils.
Megan Jenkins, a palaeontologist at the University of Portsmouth, said that she does not begrudge the individuals involved for wanting to sell the specimen for a large sum.
The skeleton measures nearly 20 feet long and stands about 9.6 feet tall, comprising approximately 191 fossil-bone elements and a virtually complete skull.
Montana rancher Jodi Pierson discovered the fossil in 2019 on her land in the Hell Creek Formation, a heavily studied site that has produced numerous significant discoveries.
Commercial palaeontologist Clayton Phipps subsequently excavated the specimen, which is only one of three relatively complete examples of its kind known to science.
Researchers confirmed last year that the specimen belongs to a distinct genus rather than a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex, ending decades of scientific debate.
The future location of the skeleton and whether the anonymous owner will eventually make it available for scientific research remain undetermined.
Reporting from
- BBC News
Rare dinosaur skeleton goes to auction in New York with £4.5m price tag
- The Globe and Mail
Fossil of Nanotyrannus, cousin of T. rex, sells at auction for $47-million
- The Guardian
Rare Nanotyrannus skeleton sells for $47.3m at New York auction
- Times of India
Montana rancher's dinosaur skeleton sells for $47.3m, 5 times top estimate
How this article was made: Headlinne wrote it with AI from the 4 reports listed above. Direct quotes are checked word for word against those reports, every number appears in at least one of them, and no other sentence is copied from one. Photos are from those reports and credited to them. Each report’s page on Headlinne links to the outlet’s original.