Selling 150-million-year-old fossils could draw criticism from scientists who want them preserved in museums.
The largest and most complete stegosaurus ever discovered is going up for auction in New York next week, and it’s expected to fetch up to $6 million.
The 150-million-year-old skeleton, dubbed Apex and measuring 11 feet (3.3 meters) tall and nearly 27 feet (8.2 meters) long, went on display at Sotheby’s on Wednesday and will remain on display until its sale on July 17.
Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s global head of science and pop culture, emphasized the rarity of the find. “It’s 79 to 85 percent fossil,” she said.
“If you find half of a dinosaur, it’s considered a major scientific discovery. If you find 60 percent, it’s incredible. If you get to 70 or 80 percent, the whole world takes notice.”
The auction is expected to be brisk, with the auction house estimating Apex’s value at $4 million to $6 million. The sale of the coveted dinosaur fossil has drawn criticism from the scientific community, which says fossils should be preserved in museums or other public places and not sold to private bidders.
The name Apex was coined to emphasize the prominent presence of the stegosaur family. The dinosaur is “awesome,” Hatton said. “Who wouldn’t be excited about this huge creature? It seems like we’ve been talking about it forever. We’ve incorporated it into the concept of mythology, dragons and Godzilla.”
Apex was discovered in May 2022 on the estate of paleontologist Jason Cooper in the Morrison Formation in Colorado, USA. Sotheby’s worked closely with Cooper to document the entire process of discovery, excavation, restoration, preparation and mounting.
“That’s how we can ensure the authenticity of the animal,” Hatton said. “You have to actually see it coming out of the ground, understand how it was prepared, and understand all the processes it went through to get here.”
In 2022, Christie’s auction house was forced to withdraw a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton just days before a scheduled auction in Hong Kong due to doubts about its authenticity.
Hatton said Apex was “of mature age” and probably lived a peaceful life.
“The sacrum is fused, suggesting arthritis. There are no bite marks or other signs of combat, so it is likely that he died of old age.”
Experts were able to determine that the animal had died with its tail curled under its body. “So if you had a dog or a coyote or any other animal that you knew was dying, you would assume that crouching pose of death, and this animal did that,” Hatton said.
Stegosaurus skeletons have already been exhibited around the world. According to Sotheby’s, Apex is 30 percent larger than Sophie, the most complete stegosaurus ever exhibited to the public. Sophie is housed in the Natural History Museum in London.
Stan, the world’s most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, sold for a record-breaking $31.8 million in 2020.
