The largest stegosaurus skeleton ever reconstructed, nicknamed “Apex”, was sold for a record 44.6 million dollars at an auction held in New York on Wednesday, Sotheby’s announced, informs AFP.
The largest stegosaurus skeleton discovered has been sold for a record amount PHOTO X/@Grouse_Beater
About 150 million years old, “Apex” it is considered “unone of the most complete skeletons ever discovered”, according to the auction house, notes ABC News.
Measuring 3.3 meters high, it is made up of 254 bone fossils out of a total of 319.
Sotheby’s had estimated its value at between $4 million and $6 million, but the price quickly rose when buyers from afar began bidding, prompting surprise and applause in the auction room.
“Judging from the general size and degree of development of the bones, it can be determined that the skeleton belonged to a large and robust adult specimen, and the evidence of arthritis, especially noticeable in the fusion of the 4 sacral vertebrae, would indicate that it lived to a old age”Sotheby’s wrote on its website.
“The specimen shows no signs of battle-related injuries or evidence of post-mortem devastation and exhibits a number of interesting pathologies“, adds the seller.
The identity of the buyer was not disclosed by Sotheby’s.
“Apex” was discovered in May 2022 on the private land of a famous paleontologist, Jason Cooper, and Sotheby’s claims to have worked with him from the beginning to organize the sale, a guarantee of “transparency“, according to the auction house.
In 2022, Christie’s had to withdraw a T-Rex skeleton from a sale in Hong Kong for several days due to doubts about its authenticity.
Stegosaurus skeletons are already on display around the world, but according to Sotheby’s, “Apex” is 30% higher than “Sophos”, the most complete specimen on display to the public, at the Natural History Museum in London.
“Apex” is not the first dinosaur sold for millions of euros
One of the largest and best-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons ever discovered – dubbed the “Sue” – was sold at auction in 1997 for $8.4 million and is now on display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
Sue was the most expensive fossil ever sold until another nearly complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, nicknamed “fold,” was sold at auction in October 2020 for $31.8 million.
Officials from Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism told National Geographic that they have the dinosaur and that the skeleton will be displayed in a new natural history museum due to open in 2025.
