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Dinosaur Skeleton Sells for Jaw-Dropping $30.5 Million at Auction
5 Aug
Summary
- Ceratosaurus nasicornis skeleton sold for over 5 times pre-auction estimate
- Buyer remains anonymous, raising fears of fossil disappearing into private collection
- Paleontologist warns of negative impact on museums and research
In a surprising turn of events, a 125-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton has been sold at a Sotheby's auction in New York for a jaw-dropping $30.5 million. The mounted young Ceratosaurus nasicornis, from the Kimmeridgian period some 150 million years ago, had a pre-auction estimate of just $4 million to $6 million, making its final sale price over five times higher than expected.
The sale has sparked a heated debate within the paleontological community. Steve Brusatte, a professor of paleontology and evolution at the University of Edinburgh, expressed his concerns, stating that "who has that kind of money to spend on a dinosaur?" He fears that the skeleton may "disappear into the ether, into the mansion of an oligarch or a bank vault," rather than being accessible to museums and educational institutions for research and public display.
The growing trend of wealthy collectors dominating the fossil trade has raised alarms among experts. Last year, billionaire investor Ken Griffin purchased a 150-million-year-old stegosaurus for a record-breaking $44.6 million, though he later donated it to the American Museum of Natural History. This latest sale of the Ceratosaurus nasicornis has further fueled the debate over the impact of the luxury fossil market on the scientific community and public access to these invaluable paleontological treasures.
