A significant dinosaur skeleton, discovered by chance by a professional fossil hunter in 2022, has fetched a record $44.6 million (£34 million) at a Sotheby's auction in
New York City, marking the highest price ever paid for a fossil.
The skeleton, a plant-eating stegosaurus nicknamed Apex, stands 11 feet (3.4 meters) tall and stretches 27 feet long from nose to tail. According to Sotheby's, it "ranks high among the most complete skeletons ever found." The buyer, who remains anonymous, indicated that "Apex was born in America and is going to stay in America," hinting that the skeleton might be loaned to a US institution.
Apex was unearthed near the aptly named town of Dinosaur in Colorado, in the western United States, by palaeontologist Jason Cooper. Mr. Cooper, a professional fossil hunter, named the skeleton Apex due to its impressive size, which would have made it a dominant presence in its environment. Apex is estimated to have roamed the earth around 150 million years ago during the Late Jurassic Period.
In a statement, Sotheby's highlighted the significance of the sale: "The finest stegosaurus to appear at auction, 'Apex' has made history today [Wednesday], selling for $44.6 million to become the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction." The fossil surpassed its pre-sale estimates by more than 11 times, receiving applause after 15 minutes of bidding. Seven buyers participated in the bidding process for the largest stegosaurus fossil ever discovered.
This sale breaks the previous record for a dinosaur fossil, which was set in 2020 when a Tyrannosaurus Rex known as Stan was sold for $31.8 million. Photo by Neal Jennings, Wikimedia commons.