Source: AFP
The largest stegosaurus skeleton ever found, nicknamed Apex, sold for a record $44.6 million at auction in New York on Wednesday, Sotheby’s said.
Estimated to be 150 million years old, Apex is said to be “among the most complete skeletons ever found,” according to the auction house.
It is 11 feet (3.3 meters) tall and 27 feet long and counts 254 fossil bone elements out of a total of about 319.
The previous auction record of $31.8 million for a dinosaur skeleton was set in 2020 for a Tyrannosaurus rex nicknamed “Stan.”
Sotheby’s expected the Apex to fetch between $4 million and $6 million, but the price skyrocketed as telephone bidders flooded the sale, prompting gasps and applause in the auction room.
After the record-breaking sale, the auctioneer asked her colleague Cassandra Hatton, head of global science at Sotheby’s, “do you need a cigarette?”
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![Paleontologists have criticized the sales of dinosaur skeletons, saying these finds should be kept in museums and not sold to private bidders Paleontologists have criticized the sales of dinosaur skeletons, saying these finds should be kept in museums and not sold to private bidders](https://cdn.yen.com.gh/images/1120/cdd7da8fb4b973e2.jpeg?v=1)
![Paleontologists have criticized the sales of dinosaur skeletons, saying these finds should be kept in museums and not sold to private bidders Paleontologists have criticized the sales of dinosaur skeletons, saying these finds should be kept in museums and not sold to private bidders](https://cdn.yen.com.gh/images/1120/cdd7da8fb4b973e2.jpeg?v=1)
Source: AFP
Apex was discovered in May 2022 on the private land of paleontologist Jason Cooper. The auction house says it has worked with Cooper to “document the entire process, from discovery and excavation to restoration, preparation and placement”, in order to guarantee the “highest standards and transparency”.
In 2022, auction house Christie’s was forced to withdraw a T-rex skeleton days before the auction in Hong Kong due to doubts about its authenticity.
Wednesday’s auction follows an upward trend in the sale of dinosaur remains.
Stegosaurus skeletons are already on display around the world, but according to Sotheby’s, Apex is 30 percent larger than Sophie, the most complete stegosaurus on public display to date, which is housed at the Natural History Museum in London.
Source: AFP