Dinosaur skeleton auctioned for record $44.6 million
An enormous dinosaur skeleton has sold for a record $44.6 million (£34 million) at Sotheby’s auction in New York. This makes it the most valuable fossil ever sold. The herbivorous stegosaurus, nicknamed Apex, is 11ft tall and 27ft long from nose to tail. It “ranks high among the most complete skeletons ever found” according to Sotheby’s.
“Apex was born in America and is going to stay in America,” the anonymous buyer said. This is seen by some as a hint that it could be loaned to an American institution.
Apex was found by chance in 2022 by Jason Cooper, a Paleontologist close to the suitably named town of Dinosaur in the state of Colorado. The state, along with nearby Montana, Utah, and especially Wyoming is home to some of the most abundant fossil records in the world.
Mr Cooper called it Apex because of its formidable dimensions, which would have made it a dominant animal in its environment. Stegosaurus was big and powerful enough to ward off potential predators such as Allosaurus that lived at the same time. Apex is believed to have lived 150 million years ago in the Late Jurassic Period.
“The finest stegosaurus to appear at auction, ‘Apex’ has made history today [Wednesday] selling for $44.6 million at Sotheby’s to become the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction,” Sotheby’s said in a statement.
It exceeded the pre-sale estimate by over 11 times, going “to applause after 15 minutes” according to the auction house. Seven prospective buyers placed their bids for the largest stegosaurus fossil ever discovered.
Apex breaks the pervious record in 2020 when a Tyrannosaurus Rex called Stan sold for $31.8 million.
Image: Perry Quan from Oakville, Canada
