The sale of one of the most substantial Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons yet discovered raises fresh questions about the balance between private ownership and the long-term needs of scientific inquiry. As the mounted specimen known as Gus prepares for auction today at Sotheby's in New York, several leading UK palaeontologists have voiced concern that escalating prices place such fossils beyond the reach of museums and researchers.
Gus dates to roughly 67 million years ago. It was recovered from the Hell Creek Formation in Harding County, South Dakota, between 2021 and 2023 by the commercial firm Theropoda Expeditions. The bones came from private land once owned by the late Gary 'Gus' Licking, after whom the dinosaur is nicknamed.
The skeleton comprises 183 fossil bone elements together with 30 of the 32 gastralia, the thin bones that supported the abdomen. That tally makes it 61 percent complete by bone count and 75 to 80 percent complete by bone mass. When mounted it stretches about 38 feet in length, stands 12.5 feet tall at the hips, and carries a skull 54 inches long. Its femur, at 50.39 inches, exceeds that of the well-known specimen Stan.
Commercial value versus scientific access
Sotheby's has set a starting bid of $19 million and expects the lot to fetch between $20 million and $30 million. The specimen has been professionally prepared and posed in a predatory stance, jaws open to display its teeth. It even preserves evidence of past injury: a bite mark on the skull and ribs that healed after being broken.
Yet the very features that make Gus scientifically valuable also inflate its market price. Professor Richard Butler of the University of Birmingham argues that treating such remains like rare artworks or status symbols threatens the foundation of palaeontological work.
The current trend towards dinosaur fossils being marketed and sold like rare artworks at vast prices by auction houses is very concerning, as is the idea of buying dinosaur fossils as a status symbol or a commodity. A fossil not in a recognised museum collection cannot be studied and is therefore lost to research.
His Edinburgh colleague Professor Stephen Brusatte echoes the unease even while acknowledging the legality of the sale in the United States, where fossils found on private land belong to the landowner.
