Montana T Rex Relative’s Skeleton Heads to Big Time Auction House
With the sixth installment in the Jurassic Park/World franchise flourishing at the box office, the timing could be pretty good.
Yep, dinosaurs are big stars on the big screen once again. And while we can't find any evidence that this guy ever made an appearance in any of the films, this skeleton of a lesser-known ancestor of the Tyrannosaurus rex that was discovered in Montana should fetch a superstar-status price tag on July 28. How's your check book balance looking?
Associated Press reports that the fossilized skeleton of a Gorgosaurus will be the guest of honor during Sotheby's Natural History Auction on July 28 in New York. As if the winning bid won't already be high, Sotheby's is throwing you a bone, letting bidders know that all other known Gorgosaurus skeletons are in museums, so this is the only specimen available for private ownership.
The main turf of the Gorgosaurus was what is now the western United States and Canada. It was an apex carnivore during the late Cretaceous Period. While, comparatively speaking, it's just minutes in dinosaur time, the Gorgosaurus had about a 10-million-year jump on its more famous relative, the Tyrannosaurus rex.
It comes to the Sotheby's auction by way of the Judith River Formation near Havre. It was discovered there in 2018. Its measurements are approximately 10 feet in height and 22 feet in length.
And just how impressive is this 76 million-year-old find? AP quoted a spokesperson for Sotheby's, who says, "I have had the privilege of handling and selling many exceptional and unique objects, but few have the capacity to inspire wonder and capture imaginations quite like this unbelievable Gorgosaurus skeleton.”
Oh, yes, back to your check book balance. Sotheby's is estimating the fossil should sell for between $5 million and $8 million.
Maybe more if they put one of those "Made in Montana" stickers on it.
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