Sotheby’s
“Apex,” the skeleton of an adult Stegosaurus, sold at auction for $44.6 million.
CNN
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A Stegosaurus skeleton It became the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction, fetching $44.6 million in New York.
After being sought by seven bidders, the dinosaur fossil was sold to an anonymous buyer on Wednesday, according to Sotheby’s, the auction house handling the sale.
The fossil, nicknamed “Apex,” blew away its pre-sale estimate of $4 million to $6 million.
Apex was discovered on private land Moffat County, Colorado2022, commercial archaeologist Jason Cooper said in a press release from Sotheby’s.
It was preserved in hard sandstone, which kept the bones from disintegrating, Sotheby’s added.
Sotheby’s
The peak is 11 feet high and nearly 27 feet long from nose to tail.
11 feet tall and nearly 27 feet long from nose to tail, With an estimated total of 319 of 254 fossilized bone elements, the indications are that Apex was a “large, robust adult,” according to the auction center.
There is also evidence that the dinosaur may have had arthritis, suggesting it lived to a ripe old age.
Despite Apex’s obvious commercial need, some paleontologists have argued that the fossil should be displayed in a museum rather than sold to private bidders.
Steve Brussaud, a professor of paleontology and evolution at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, told CNN in May that Apex is “an important dinosaur fossil.” Triceratops.”
“It’s a great shame when a fossil like this disappears into the mansion of an oligarch who could have educated and intrigued so many,” Brusot said before the sale.
Sotheby’s
According to Sotheby’s, the apex became the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction.
He added: “Whenever a dinosaur is sold on the open market, the uber-wealthy can always outbid the museums, so if someone is willing to buy a fossil like this, my hope is that this fossil will appeal to their fancy, and they donate it to a museum.”
Sotheby’s said on Wednesday that the buyer of the Apex “wants to explore loaning the model to a US company”.
According to the news release, the winning buyer said: “Apex was born in America and is going to stay in America.”
Wednesday’s auction is not the first to offer dinosaur fossils to commercial bidders.
According to Sotheby’s, it was “Sue” a Tyrannosaurus rex and the first dinosaur sold at auction in 1997 for $8.4 million.
“Stan,” another Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, Sold for $31.8 million In 2020.
