The fact that it’s just a skull-not a full skeleton-could make the specimen all the more enticing. rex skulls paleontologists have ever unearthed. Sotheby's says Maximus is one of the most complete T. Sotheby’s experts aren’t sure what led to the creature’s death. The skull also has two large puncture holes, which suggests that Maximus duked it out with another dinosaur, likely also a T. The tooth-bearing jaw elements are all there, as well as most of the external bones and many upper and lower teeth. rex-the owner didn’t add any composite pieces-which is also extremely rare. The winning bidder will get to take home the 200-pound, 6-foot-7.5 skull mounted on an iron pedestal. “Without the work of experienced field paleontologists who carefully collected and preserved this skull, it may have eroded away and been lost to science forever.” rex remains, the skull retained much of its original shape and surface characteristics with even the smallest and most delicate bones intact, with an extremely high degree of scientific integrity,” says Henry Galiano, a Sotheby’s natural history consultant, in a statement. “Unearthed in one of the most concentrated areas for T. But auction house officials did say in a statement that the skull’s survival was a “great stroke of luck,” as weathering and erosion ate away at the rest of the dinosaur’s bones. Sotheby’s didn’t say who discovered Maximus or identify the current owner. The skull weighs 200 pounds and is mounted on an iron pedestal. Paleontologists have also unearthed at the site the fossilized remains of Triceratopses, Edmontosaurs, Ankylosaurs, Pachycephalosaurs and various other creatures that roamed the planet during the Cretaceous period. rex fossils, including Sue, which brought in $8.3 million when it became the first dinosaur ever sold at auction in 1997, as well as Stan, which sold for $31.8 million in 2020. The site has revealed several other well-known T. It is expected to sell for $15 to $20 million.įossil hunters discovered the skull, nicknamed Maximus, on private land in the Hell Creek Formation, located in Harding County, South Dakota. Experts from Sotheby’s-which is offering the specimen during a live sale in New York on December 9-say the 76-million-year-old skull is one of the most complete paleontologists have ever unearthed, rivaling only a handful kept at museums. That outcome is still on the table, of course, but it might be a while before we find out Maximus’s fate.A massive fossilized skull that once belonged to a Tyrannosaurus rex is hitting the auction block next month. “We always hope that it will be bought by an institution or an individual who will donate to one.” “This is something that I would want to study in my research if I could,” the paleontologist James G. Maximus, for example, seems to be a scientifically important specimen, but because the buyer has remained anonymous, nobody knows yet where he will end up. These academics contend that if wealthy individuals with money to spare can simply buy fossils, the skeletons may be kept from research and further study. “It’s all based on confidence,” he said after Friday’s sale, “and right now, there’s very low confidence in that arena.”ĭinosaur auctions have also been a sore spot for paleontologists. The art adviser Todd Levin told the Times that the outcome of the Christie’s sale may have impacted buyers’ certainty. Questions had come up about how much real bone was included in the skeleton, an issue that may have hurt the Maximus auction as well. Just a couple of weeks ago, Christie’s canceled an auction of a larger T.Rex expected to hammer down for up to $25 million. The sale was surrounded by a bit of controversy, perhaps contributing to its lower-than-expected profits. “And we are pleased to have set a significant new benchmark for dinosaur fossils at auction.” “Today’s sale was always designed to gauge the market,” said Cassandra Hatton, the global head of science and popular culture at Sotheby’s and the organizer of the auction. The All-White Lamborghini Countach from 'Wolf of Wall Street' Could Fetch $2 Million at Auction Jump, Little Children: The Best Trampolines to Add to Your BackyardĪ ‘Bitcoin Bonnie and Clyde’ Plead Guilty to a $4.5 Billion Cryptocurrency-Laundering Scheme
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