A complete skeleton of Gorgosaurus, a species of dinosaur cousin of the T-Rex and having lived more than 77 million years ago, will soon be sold at auction by Sotheby’s in New York, amid the enthusiasm of buyers for this type of relics.
The specimen nearly 3 meters high and 6.7 meters long, discovered in 2018 in the geological formation of Judith River, in the state of Montana, and still in private hands since, is estimated between 5 and 8 million dollars by the auction house.
“Almost all the specimens of Gorgosaurus that have been found are in museums. It’s the only one that can be bought,” Cassandra, head of the science and popular culture department at Sotheby’s, told AFP on Tuesday. Hatton, who claims a first for this species.
Measuring 10 feet tall and 22 feet long, meet the first ever #Gorgosaurus skeleton to be offered at auction.
watch as our #Dinosaur is put together in our #SothebysNewYork galleries, open for viewing 21 July ahead of its sale in our #GeekWeek auction 28 July. pic.twitter.com/dqR9oIUh16
—Sotheby’s (@Sotheby’s) July 5, 2022
A member, like the T-Rex, of the Tyrannosauridae family, the Gorgosaurus (“ferocious lizard”) lived during the Late Cretaceous period and died out around 77 million years ago. The copy, which Sotheby’s claims is in “remarkable condition”, will be exhibited at the company’s premises in New York from July 21, then sold a week later.
From museums to private collections
Sales of dinosaur skeletons now regularly enliven auction evenings, even if it means frustrating paleontologists, who see it as one less chance of exhibiting them in museums.
In May, still in New York but at Christie’s, a skeleton of Deinonychus antirrhopus, which had inspired the Velociraptor of the film “Jurassic Park” by Steven Spielberg (1993), had been sold for 12.4 million dollars, including costs, to an Asian customer.
That price, more than double its estimate, made it the second most expensive auction for a dinosaur skeleton, a far cry from the big star, a Tyrannosaurus Rex that left in 2020 for $31.8 million.