The largest and best-preserved Stegosaurus skeleton, discovered in 2022 in Colorado, will be auctioned at Sotheby’s next week in New York. This sale is expected to further disappoint paleontologists, reports AFP.
This Stegosaurus, unveiled on Wednesday before being put on display for sale on July 17, is notable for its size (3.3 meters tall, 6 meters long) and its state of preservation. It is approximately 150 million years old and is known for its distinctive spiked back plates. The skeleton comprises 254 fossilized bones out of a total of 319. One of the most impressive parts is the femur, which measures about 1.10 meters.
“Apex,” as it is known, is a very rare specimen, and finding one of this size and almost completely intact is phenomenal,” said Cassandra Hatton, head of the Science and Culture department at Sotheby’s, to AFP.
The auction house has estimated its value between $4 million and $6 million, which is among the highest prices on the market. However, this amount is still far from the record $31.8 million achieved in 2020 in New York for the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, the star of the film “Dinosaurs.”
The “Apex” skeleton was discovered in May 2022 on private land owned by renowned paleontologist Jason Cooper. Sotheby’s says it has worked with him from the beginning to organize this sale, which, according to the company, ensures “transparency.”
In 2022, the auction house Christie’s was forced to withdraw the skeleton of a Montana T-Rex from a sale in Hong Kong just days before the auction due to doubts about the authenticity of some of the fossil parts.
In recent years, such auctions have become more frequent, sparking debates and frustration among paleontologists who see extraordinary fossils ending up in the hands of private collectors and out of reach of museums and scientific research.
Stegosaurus skeletons are already on display worldwide, but according to Sotheby’s, “Apex” is 30 percent larger than “Sophie,” a specimen exhibited at the Natural History Museum in London.
“This generates a lot of debates, but most of the people I work with donate or loan these specimens to museums; they understand their significance,” says Cassandra Hatton. In her opinion, a museum can always acquire a specimen with the help of a patron.
According to Sotheby’s, Jason Cooper has already donated a significant number of specimens to institutions worldwide.
This dinosaur is the leading piece in a large series of scientific memorabilia sales.
