The largest stegosaur fossil ever found is going up for auction next month with an estimated value of up to $6 million.
The specimen, known as “Apex,” was unearthed near the Morrison Formation in Colorado, near the town of Dinosaur, in 2023, according to auction house Sotheby’s.
Part of the armored dinosaur was first discovered on the nearby property of commercial paleontologist Jason Cooper, according to the auction house. In total, it is 11 feet high and 20 feet long and includes 247 fossil bones. The dinosaur is believed to be between 146 million and 161 million years old.
Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s senior vice president and global head of science and popular culture, told ABC News that she remembers Cooper calling about the discovery.
“Oh my God, we have something incredible on our hands,” Hatton said of the discovery at the time.
Sotheby’s will auction the copy with an estimated value of $4 million to $6 million in New York on July 17. In 1997, Sotheby’s sold a 200-pound Tyrannosaurus rex head for $8.3 million.
As for how Apex earned its name, Sotheby’s says it’s considered the largest and most complete stegosaurus ever discovered.
For almost a decade, a stegosaurus specimen named Sophie, housed in the National History Museum in London, held the title of largest and most complete stegosaur ever discovered. Apex is 30% larger than Sophia, based on a femur length of 45 inches, according to Sotheby’s.
“Through a careful process of excavation, preparation and installation, ‘Apex’ sets a new standard for all future discoveries of this magnitude and further cements the stegosaurus’ enduring appeal and acclaimed status in popular culture,” Hatton said in a press release. rid.
But Sotheby’s sale next month could also fuel a long-standing debate over whether or not dinosaur fossils should be sold to private collectors.
Paul David Polly, a professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Indiana University, said auctions often focus on finding complete dinosaurs over studying the surrounding environment, giving an incomplete picture of the specimen.
“[An auction] fetishizes complete dinosaur skeletons during good careful scientific research,” said David Polly
Additionally, in the hands of private collectors, fossils may not be available to the public, preventing scientists from studying them.
“Because [the fossils] are in a private collection, they cannot contribute to the diversity of things we know about the world,” said Canadian paleontologist Greg Funston.
Regardless, it is legal to sell fossils found on private property in the US. Other countries such as Canada, Brazil and South Africa restrict the sale and export of fossils found in those countries.
David Polly said that private landowners will provide access to the highest bidder, which is often not scientists. “People think fossils have monetary value, and scientists who work for nonprofits don’t have the money to buy fossils,” he said.
Hatton says there are other issues to consider amid the debate over the private sale of fossils. “I think the debate is more about whether dinosaurs should be considered property and that’s a much broader conversation,” Hatton said.
Spencer G. Lucas, an American paleontologist at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, said commercial paleontology can preserve fossils for science and education.
“My hope would be that [the fossils] would be available for scientific research,” he said.
Before the July 17 sale, Apex will be on display at Sotheby’s galleries in New York, the auction house said. The exhibition will be free and open to the public.