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Nanotyrannus: Rare dinosaur skeleton shatters estimates with $47.3 million sale in New York
A dinosaur skeleton has fetched $47.3 million at a New York auction, making it one of the most expensive fossils ever sold.
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A dinosaur skeleton has fetched $47.3 million at a New York auction, making it one of the most expensive fossils ever sold. The mounted skeleton of the Nanotyrannus, a smaller relative of the Tyrannosaurus rex, became the centre of a bidding war between six people on Tuesday.
The auction was conducted by Sotheby's in New York. Ultimately, the Nanotyrannus skeleton far surpassed the $9 million it was expected to fetch and instead sold for $47.3 million.
Nicknamed “Jodi” after the person who found the skeletal remains in 2019, the specimen is one of only three Nanotyrannus skeletons known to science. It is “distinguished by a beautifully preserved, virtually complete skull,” Sotheby’s said in a statement.
(Also read: Tourist’s photo leads to discovery of 120-million-year-old dinosaur footprints in Thailand)
At 9.6 feet tall and 19.6 feet long, Jodi is just over half as long as Gus — the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton that sold for a record $50.1 million in July.
The discovery and the bidding war
In 2019, rancher Jodi Pierson uncovered a rare dinosaur skeleton on her private land within the heavily studied Hell Creek Formation near Jordan, Garfield County, Montana. Commercial paleontologist Clayton Phipps subsequently led the excavation of the specimen.
The fossil is the first to enter the market since the Nanotyrannus genus was formally confirmed last year.
Displayed at a Manhattan auction earlier this month, it measures 19.6 feet from nose to tail, stands roughly 9.6 feet tall, and comprises approximately 191 individual fossil bone elements.
The skeleton sold on Tuesday “after a twelve-minute bidding battle that saw six bidders compete online and over the phones, before ultimately selling on the phone”, Sotheby’s said in a statement, according to The Guardian.
The name of the buyer has not been disclosed.
(Also read: Dust-free dinosaurs: How museums preserve prehistoric bones)
Following the sale, Cassandra Hatton, vice-chair and worldwide head of science and natural history at Sotheby’s, issued a statement on Tuesday honouring the team involved in the project:
“Their passion and expertise have been fundamental to Jodi’s story,” Hatton said. “From the discovery and excavation, their commitment to understanding and preserving this remarkable specimen has helped bring us to this moment, a testament to the fact that we can all make major contributions to science. This exceptional result is a wonderful recognition of that work, and of the enduring fascination with the Nanotyrannus.”
