Stegosaurus skeleton auction likely to draw millions — and fire

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Dinosaur skeleton finds caller location

Dinosaur skeleton recovered successful U.S. yet finds caller location successful Europe 01:33

The largest stegosaurus skeleton ever recovered is expected to fetch millions of dollars astatine auction successful New York adjacent week, apt fueling objections from paleontologists.

The fossil, estimated to beryllium astir 150 cardinal years old, was enactment connected show astatine Sotheby's connected Wednesday and volition beryllium exhibited determination until its merchantability connected July 17.

Named Apex, the elephantine skeleton -- 11 feet gangly and astir 27 feet agelong -- is billed arsenic "the astir implicit and best-preserved" stegosaurus specimen of its size, counting 254 fossil bony elements of an approximate full of 319.

Such income person go much predominant successful caller years, drawing disapproval from paleontologists, who accidental that these finds should beryllium preserved successful museums oregon different nationalist spaces and not sold to backstage bidders.

"It's a very, precise uncommon animal, and to find 1 of this size and this completeness is phenomenal," Cassandra Hatton, caput of subject and fashionable civilization astatine Sotheby's, told AFP.

The auction location estimates Apex's worth astatine $4-6 million, though inactive little than Stan, the world's astir implicit tyrannosaurus rex skeleton sold successful 2020 for a grounds $31.8 million.

Apex was discovered successful May 2022 connected the backstage onshore of paleontologist Jason Cooper. The auction location says it has collaborated with Cooper to "document the full process, from find and excavation to restoration, mentation and mounting," successful bid to warrant the "highest standards and transparency."

In 2022, Christie's auction location had to withdraw a T-rex skeleton a fewer days earlier auction successful Hong Kong owed to doubts astir its authenticity.

Stegosaurus skeletons are already connected show astir the satellite but, according to Sotheby's, Apex is 30 percent larger than Sophie, the astir implicit stegosaurus connected nationalist show to date, which is housed successful the Natural History Museum successful London.

The statement astir auctions of dinosaur fossils is 1 "I've heard a lot," said Hatton. "When you person a scientifically important specimen, the museums usually amusement up and find donors to bid connected their behalf oregon they bid themselves."

"Most of the radical I enactment with are donating specimens to museums oregon loaning them to museums; they recognize the value and value of these specimens."

According to Sotheby's, Cooper has already donated fossils to museums astir the world.