A first-of-its-kind dinosaur skeleton was on the auction block at Sotheby’s Natural History Live Auction in New York on Thursday, July 28, 2022. The 77-million-year-old fossil belonging to a Gorgosaurus has sold for $6.1 million to an undisclosed buyer. The highest bidder also won the right to give the dinosaur skeleton a name. Sotheby’s noted in a press release that the Gorgosaurus skeleton was one of the most valuable dinosaurs ever sold. This Gorgosaurus was the first ever to appear at auction — and is one of only 20 known to exist. The dinosaur that belonged to the tyrannosaur family was nearly 10 feet tall and 22 feet long. The sarcophagus reigned during the Late Cretaceous period, native to what is now western North America, according to Sotheby’s. These fossils were found in the Judith River Formation near Havre, Montana in 2018, which is a rare find south of the Canadian border. The skeleton sold for $6.1 million. Anthony Behar/Sipa USA via AP Sotheby’s global head of science and popular culture, Cassandra Hatton, shared in a statement ahead of the auction that the prehistoric relic was an inspiration. “I have had the privilege of handling and selling many exceptional and unique items,” he said. “But few have the ability to inspire wonder and capture the imagination like this incredible Gorgosaurus skeleton.” But scientists and dinologist experts are not so optimistic about the historical exchange. Although the sale of the dinosaur appears to be legal, paleontologist Thomas Carr of Carthage College expressed in an interview with the New York Times that he is “disgusted” by the lack of attention to the rarity of the fossils available to the public. “I am completely disgusted, saddened and disappointed because of the widespread damage to science that the loss of these specimens will have,” he told the publication. “This is a disaster.” Only 20 of the rare dinosaur skeletons are known to exist. Anthony Behar/Sipa USA via AP The expert mapped that there are about 50 T. Rex specimens – from complete skeletons to unique bones – in public trust for research access, while the same amount are held privately. The number of Gorgosaurus specimens available for study is even smaller. “The value of dinosaurs is not the price one will pay,” he said. “It’s the information they contain.”
