The skeleton of a giant Tyrannosaurus rex named Gus was sold at Sotheby's auction in New York for a record $50.1 million (23.4 billion tenge). It is now the most expensive dinosaur remains in history. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
According to the Associated Press, Gus is an adult Tyrannosaurus rex that lived on Earth about 67 million years ago. It was discovered in 2021 on a private ranch in South Dakota.
The fossil is unique for several reasons. For instance, its enormous size. The skeleton is 11.5 meters long and nearly 4 meters tall.
Also, the remains are about 61% intact. Its skull is almost perfectly preserved. Paleontologists managed to collect 82% of the skull bones, including the fearsome jaws with teeth. The bones were carefully cleaned and prepared for exhibition for five years. The skeleton now stands upright, with one leg raised as if walking.
The bidding for the dinosaur lasted only 10 minutes. The starting price quickly soared, nearly doubling experts' expectations. Ultimately, the winner was a secret buyer who bid by phone and wished to remain anonymous. He outbid six other contenders.
The previous price record belonged to the skeleton of a Stegosaurus named Apex. In 2024, it was sold at the same auction for about 21 billion tenge ($44.6 million).
Scientists and paleontologists hope that the new owner will not hide Gus in a closed private mansion. The scientific community has already appealed to the buyer to donate the skeleton to a major natural history museum.
Typically, owners of such expensive finds agree to lend them to museums so that people can see them and scientists can continue their study.
Earlier, Kursiv LifeStyle reported that one of the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons in the world was put up for auction at Sotheby's. Auction organizers expected to raise up to $30 million (14.1 billion tenge) for it.