'Gus' T. rex Skeleton Sold for $50.1M at Auction

A Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton named 'Gus' sold for $50.1 million at Sotheby's New York auction on Tuesday, setting a new record price for dinosaur fossils according to multiple reports. The 67-million-year-old specimen from the late Cretaceous period stands 12.5 feet tall and is roughly 38 feet long, composed of 183 bones plus rare rib specimens.

The skeleton was discovered in Harding County, South Dakota on private land owned by Gary 'Gus' Licking. The specimen is named after Licking who passed away during the excavation process that ran through 2023. According to The Guardian, Gus represents a significant find but also poses challenges for scientists concerned about access to fossils in private hands.

Sotheby's had predicted Gus would sell for $20-$30 million, but after just a 10-minute bidding window with seven participants, the skeleton became 'the most valuable dinosaur ever sold at auction' according to CBS News. The previous record was held by Apex, a stegosaurus that sold for nearly $45 million two years ago.

The sale has sparked debate among paleontologists. According to The Guardian, Professor Richard Butler of the University of Birmingham expressed concerns about dinosaur fossils being marketed as rare artworks and bought as status symbols by private collectors, limiting access for scientific research. The first T rex sold at auction was Sue in 1997, purchased by the Field Museum in Chicago.

While some experts acknowledge that private ownership could potentially benefit public access through loans or donations to museums according to The Guardian, others argue that fossils need permanent public repositories for ongoing scientific study. The sale of Gus highlights the growing market for dinosaur fossils among wealthy collectors, with prices increasingly out of reach for academic institutions.

Sotheby's did not name the buyer who purchased Gus through a phone bid according to UPI. The excavation process took three summers and involved paleontologist Thomas Heitkamp and his team. After the initial excavation in 2021, several years of lab work were required to prepare the specimen for auction.

The commercial dinosaur bones market has seen significant growth recently. Another dinosaur, Stan, was sold for $31.8 million in 2020 and is now displayed at the Natural History Museum in Abu Dhabi according to UPI. Peter Larson, a commercial paleontologist from South Dakota, noted that people are just beginning to realize the real value of these fossils.

Academics express frustration over the lack of availability of specimens for scientific study. Thomas Carr, a paleontologist at Carthage College in Wisconsin said 'The auction houses are in a competitive race to sell the most expensive dinosaur ever,' adding that no museum could afford this price point according to UPI. Thomas R. Holtz Jr., a vertebrate paleontologist with the University of Maryland suggested that for sincere fans of dinosaurs, there are other ways of getting involved besides owning fossils.

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology has expressed hope that the new owner will recognize the extraordinary scientific and educational value of Gus and donate it to an accredited natural history museum. The society emphasizes the importance of preserving, documenting, and making such specimens accessible for future generations according to NPR.

The specimen is described as comprising 'an incredible 183 fossil bone elements,' making it approximately 61% complete by bone count according to Arstechnica. The fossil remains have been mounted in a custom steel armature along with replicas of the missing bones, resulting in a reconstructed skeleton posed dynamically as if in pursuit.