Rare Nanotyrannus skeleton sells for $47.3m at New York auction
Sale makes ‘Jodi’, a smaller relative of T rex, the ‘second most valuable dinosaur ever sold at auction’, Sotheby’s says A rare skeleton of a Nanotyrannus, a smaller relative of the Tyrannosaurus rex, sold at auction in New York this week for $47.3m, making it one of the world’s most expensive fossils. The skeleton, named “Jodi” after the person who found the remains in 2019, sold at Sotheby’s on…
A rare Nanotyrannus skeleton, a smaller cousin of the Tyrannosaurus rex, sold for $47.3 million at a New York auction on Tuesday, making it one of the world's most expensive dinosaur fossils. The specimen, named "Jodi" after the individual who discovered it in 2019, was the subject of a fierce 12-minute bidding war among six online and phone bidders before being sold over the phone.
Sotheby's initially predicted the skeleton would fetch $6 million to $9 million. The 19.6-foot-long and 9.6-foot-tall skeleton, comprising around 191 fossil bone elements, was found on Jodi Pierson's privately owned land in Montana. Only three substantial Nanotyrannus skeletons are known to exist, and this is the first to be offered for sale since the genus was confirmed last fall.
The sale of "Jodi" has sparked criticism from some in the scientific community, with concerns raised about the potential loss of scientifically significant fossils when they fall into private hands.
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