Posted on 07/20/2026 3:42:04 AM PDT by DFG
A giant Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton sold for $50.1 million at an auction in New York on Tuesday, marking a new record price for a dinosaur fossil.
The T. rex, nicknamed Gus, is a towering figure, standing at 12.5 feet fall and roughly 38 feet long, according to Sotheby's, the auction house that hosted the historic bid. Composed of 183 different bones, in addition to dozens of rare rib specimens that aren't included in technical bone counts, the assembled fossil is among the largest and most complete T. rex skeletons ever discovered, the auction house said.
Gus was auctioned off as a fully mounted structure, ready to be placed in an exhibit. The last time such an intact dinosaur skeleton sold for such a comparably high price was two years ago, almost to the date, when Sotheby's auctioned off the mounted bones of a stegosaurus called Apex for nearly $45 million. It was a record sale at the time, which significantly exceeded the estimated price range of $4 to $6 million.
Sotheby's had predicted that Gus would sell for $20 or $30 million, according to its website. But, after only a 10-minute bidding window, the skeleton became "the most valuable dinosaur ever sold at auction," the auction house said. Just seven bidders participated in the auction.
Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby's vice chair, said in a statement that the auction's outcome "has been years in the making," crediting Thomas Heitkamp, who led the excavation to uncover the T. rex remnants alongside a team in Harding County, South Dakota. The colossal dinosaur skeleton is named after the late cattle rancher Gary "Gus" Licking, who owned the land on which Heitkamp initially found the fossils.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
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Jurassic Park 🏞️ is frightening in the dark,
All the dinosaurs 🦕🦕🦕 are running wild!
https://youtu.be/gh4zvQfDhi0?si=yL5xq1mjodAogSYU
Newman!!
You didn’t use the Password
Top of the pops 1971
Didn’t I read recently that the Tyrannosaurus rex went tranny? That is one heck of a paperweight.
Nicholas Cage’s?
Used to taste like chicken.
Gus’s smile was persuasive, but behind it were his teeth...
Apologies to Bram Stoker.
.
Great song! Poorly lip synched
Hope Gus doesn’t end up somewhere in the Middle East like Stan, the previous record holder.
Be nice to be able to see the big guy.
“Weird Al” Yankovic
Elton John on keyboards.
“Poorly lip synched”
Yes. Ruined the song.
I have a feeling that guy on the piano is going to go far.
Who cares, I was just watching the dancers.
I was going to bid on it, but it won’t fit in my living room.
So, who bought the T Rex for $50 million?
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