The world’s most complete Stegosaurus skeleton is going up for auction, and many people are not happy about it.
The incredibly complete skeleton, nicknamed Apex, was discovered in a town aptly called Dinosaur, and happened to be the most complete stegosaurus skeleton ever found.
That in of itself is exciting. But what makes it controversial is the private sales, where amazing fossils like these are sold to private parties, versus museums or public places.
Sotheby’s plans to list Apex for sale this summer, with prices expected to reach $4-6 million. That makes it in reach of rich collectors, but not in reach of public institutions.
“Dinosaur fossils have fetched escalating prices at auction houses since 1997, when Sotheby’s sold “Sue” the Tyrannosaurus rex to the Field Museum in Chicago for $8.36 million. In 2020, “Stan,” another largely complete T. rex skeleton, sold at Christie’s for $31.8 million.
Such pricing has raised serious concerns among academic paleontologists, said Stuart Sumida, vice president of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Many of them have watched fossils that may unlock scientific mysteries get steered into the hands of wealthy private collectors rather than toward research institutions in recent decades.”
Discover more from Moss and Fog
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
2 Comments
Biding is still more cost effective than launching an expedition. I agree with the prior comment
I saw a program a few years ago on tv showing that the Smithsonian has tons of dinosaurs bones that still has not been unpacked.
I bet they don’t know what they have in storage areas around the country.
And I am sure other countries museums have the same.
Not to mention where will they display it. It will be put in storage somewhere and we won’t see it.