Someone just paid Rs 482 crore for a Tyrannosaurus rex
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Someone just paid Rs 482 crore for a Tyrannosaurus rex")
T. rex fossil sold by Sotheby's for 50.1 million dollars. Photograph: (AFP)
A Tyrannosaurus rex fossil found over three years, from 2021 to 2023, has been auctioned off for $50.1 million at Sotheby's. This is the highest amount a bidder has ever paid to get their hands on a dinosaur fossil.
A T. rex fossil was sold for a whopping $50.1 million, or nearly Rs 482 crore, at a Sotheby's auction in New York on Tuesday. This is the highest amount anyone has ever paid for a dinosaur fossil. The dinosaur stands tall at more than 12 feet, is 38 feet long, and has over 60 per cent of its bones. It contains 183 original fossilised bones. Palaeontologists say this was one of "the most complete" specimens ever found. The winning bidder has not been revealed as the bid was placed anonymously over the phone. The Tyrannosaurus rex is 67 million years old and was named Gus after being discovered in 2021 in the US State of South Dakota.
"Gus is not only an exceptional find, but a specimen that's been excavated, documented, prepared, and cared for with real excellence," Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby's worldwide head of science and natural history, said. Gus is the first dinosaur to be auctioned off for an amount exceeding $50 million. The previous record was held by a stegosaurus in 2024, which sold for a staggering $44.6 million. It was bought by billionaire Kenneth Griffin who loaned it to the American Natural History Museum for four years.
Why did someone pay so much money for a dinosaur fossil?
Experts believe the latest price tag on a dinosaur reflects a time when the ultra-rich are ready to shell out millions on fossils. This particular dinosaur was excavated over a period of three years. Then it took three more years to put the pieces together. The dinosaur fossil revealed a violent past as it displayed injury marks - bite impressions on the skull and broken ribs that had healed. Scientists say it would have gotten those injuries from either looking for food or in a battle with other dinosaurs.
Its skull was exceptionally well-preserved. Since T. rex skulls are extremely heavy and fragile, Sotheby's exhibited the real one in its lobby and mounted a lighter replica head on the main standing steel armature. The fossil contains 30 gastralia (rarely preserved belly ribs) and a fossilised furcula (wishbone), which are rarely found intact.
