record sum - Dino-Skeleton fetched nearly 45 Million Dollars at auction
A roughly 150 million year old Skeleton of a Stegosaurus was sold for nearly 45 Million Dollars (around 40 Million Euro) at an Auction in New York. After a fifteen-minute bidding war between seven interested parties, an anonymous bidder secured the lot for 44.6 Million Dollars, according to auction house Sotheby's.
This makes the Stegosaurus Skeleton the most expensive fossil ever sold at auction. Initially, the auction house had only anticipated a price of up to six Million Dollars. The buyer hinted at intending to lend the piece to a US museum institution.
The approximately six meter long and 3.50 meter high Skeleton, named "Apex," was discovered in the US state of Colorado in 2022, as per the auction house's statements. It is "incredibly well-preserved," according to their claims.
In recent years, Dinosaur Skeletons or their parts have frequently been sold for millions. Many experts view the auctioning of scientifically valuable Skeletons critically.
The record-breaking sum of $44.6 million paid for the Stegosaurus skeleton at the auction in New York, held in the United States, surpassed previous highs in the field of fossil sales. This Sale of the Stegosaurus skeleton, labeled "Apex," has sparked ongoing debates within the scientific community in the United States about the ethics of auctioning historically significant specimens. The interest in Dinosaur skeletons and their parts at auctions in recent times has reached unprecedented levels, with several reaching multi-million dollar figures.
