Rare Nanotyrannus sells at auction for $47.3 million, becoming second most valuable fossil ever

A rare skeleton of Nanotyrannus, a smaller T. rex relative, has sold at auction at Sotheby’s in New York for $47.3 million, after a 12-minute bidding war among six contenders.

The specimen, named Jodi, is one of only three relatively complete Nanotyrannus skeletons known to science. Blowing well past an estimate of $6 to $9 million, the sale narrowly missed the auction record for a fossil, set in July with the sale of Gus — an exceptional T. rex skeleton that went under the hammer for $50.1 million.

Measuring 9.6 feet tall and 19.6 feet long, Jodi is just over half as long as Gus, with scarcity of similar specimens likely playing a role in pushing the sale price up. The very existence of the Nanotyrannus species is hotly debated in paleontology; researchers have only recently tipped the scales in favor of considering Nanotyrannus a distinct dinosaur rather than a juvenile T. rex.

The specimen, according to Sotheby’s, is exceptionally preserved, made up of 191 bone elements, and includes a “virtually complete” skull.

Ben Levine/Courtesy Sotheby's

The skeleton was discovered in 2019 by Montana rancher Jodi Pierson — who also inspired its name — and excavated by Clayton Phipps, a commercial paleontologist known as the “Dinosaur Cowboy.”

Like several other important fossils previously sold at auction, Jodi comes from Hell Creek Formation, a geological boneyard stretching across Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas. One of the first skeletons of T. rex was found there in 1902, and the name T. rex was given to the species based on fossils unearthed in the area.

In 2006, a short distance away from Jodi’s excavation site, Phipps had unearthed the “Dueling Dinosaurs,” a legendary fossil now at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. It features two skeletons apparently locked in combat — a Triceratops and a smaller tyrannosaur, now identified as a Nanotyrannus. The third known Nanotyrannus skeleton is Jane, also from Hell’s Creek, which is housed at the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, Illinois.

Based on the overall size and bone development, Jodi is an adult specimen, according to Sotheby’s. The missing bones have been replaced with custom 3D printed and sculpted elements, and the fossil was offered with “full rights,” meaning it doesn’t contain any copyrighted elements from other dinosaurs. Its new owner — whose identity is unknown — can therefore create replicas of the skeleton and sell them to museums or collectors.

Matthew Sherman/Courtesy Sotheby's

High-value sales of dinosaur fossils have drawn strong criticism by scientists, because they remove specimens from the public realm and make them unavailable for studying.

“We’ve really just found out that Nanotyrannus is real, and now one of the best skeletons is about to be sold to the highest bidder,” said Steve Brusatte, a professor of paleontology and evolution at Scotland’s University of Edinburgh, in an email. “It’s harrowing to think it could disappear into the vaults of a collector rather than displayed on a museum where it can wow and inspire kids and families and the public at large.”

David Hone, a paleontologist and reader in zoology at Queen Mary University of London, said he was very surprised that Jodi sold for so much more than the estimates. “It does feel like this is a bubble of prices on dinosaurs which must burst at some point, they can’t keep rising forever,” he added in an email.

“In terms of the potential scientific value of the specimen it’s very hard to say without proper and verified study by expert s,” Hone said. “I’d be very surprised if the specimen ended up in a public collection and available for study, and so until that point it is effectively outside of science.”

一具体型较小的霸王龙近亲——矮暴龙的罕见骨骼在纽约苏富比拍卖行以 4730 万美元的价格售出，此前六位竞标者进行了 12 分钟的激烈竞价。

这具名为“乔迪”（Jodi）的标本是目前科学界已知的仅有的三具相对完整的矮暴龙（Nanotyrannus）骨骼之一。它的成交价远超此前600万至900万美元的估价，仅以微弱劣势未能打破化石拍卖纪录。该纪录于7月由一具名为“格斯”（Gus）的非凡霸王龙骨骼创下，成交价高达5010万美元。

乔迪身高9.6英尺，体长19.6英尺，体长略超过格斯的一半，类似标本的稀少可能是推高其售价的原因之一。矮暴龙（Nanotyrannus）这一物种是否存在一直是古生物学界争论的焦点；研究人员直到最近才倾向于认为矮暴龙是一种独立的恐龙，而不是幼年霸王龙。

据苏富比拍卖行称，该标本保存异常完好，由 191 个骨骼元素组成，其中包括一个“几乎完整”的头骨。

本·莱文/苏富比图片社

这具骨骼于 2019 年由蒙大拿州牧场主乔迪·皮尔森发现（她也是这具骨骼名称的灵感来源），并由被称为“恐龙牛仔”的商业古生物学家克莱顿·菲普斯挖掘出来。

与之前拍卖会上售出的其他几件重要化石一样，乔迪也来自地狱溪组地层，这是一片横跨蒙大拿州、怀俄明州和达科他州的地质化石宝库。1902年，人们在那里发现了最早的霸王龙骨骼化石之一，霸王龙（T. rex）这个名称也是根据在该地区出土的化石而命名的。

2006年，在距离乔迪挖掘地点不远的地方，菲普斯发掘出了“决斗恐龙”化石，这件传奇化石现藏于北卡罗来纳州罗利市的北卡罗来纳州自然科学博物馆。化石展现了两具骨骼，它们似乎正在搏斗——一具三角龙和一具体型较小的暴龙，后者现已被鉴定为矮暴龙。已知的第三具矮暴龙骨骼化石是“简”，同样来自地狱溪，现藏于伊利诺伊州罗克福德市的伯比自然历史博物馆。

根据苏富比拍卖行的说法，乔迪的骨骼大小和发育情况表明，这是一具成年恐龙化石。缺失的骨骼已用定制的3D打印和雕刻部件进行替换，并且这具化石附带“完整版权”，这意味着它不包含任何其他恐龙的版权部件。因此，它的新主人——身份不明——可以制作这具骨骼的复制品，并将其出售给博物馆或收藏家。

马修·谢尔曼/苏富比图片社提供

高价值的恐龙化石交易受到了科学家的强烈批评，因为这将标本从公共领域中移除，使其无法用于研究。

“我们刚刚证实了矮暴龙的存在，而现在一具保存最完好的骨骼化石即将被卖给出价最高的人，”苏格兰爱丁堡大学古生物学和进化论教授史蒂夫·布鲁萨特在一封电子邮件中写道。“想到它可能会消失在收藏家的保险库里，而不是在博物馆展出，让孩子们、家庭以及广大公众惊叹不已、深受启发，真是令人痛心。”

伦敦玛丽女王大学古生物学家兼动物学讲师大卫·霍恩表示，他对乔迪的成交价远超估价感到非常惊讶。“感觉恐龙价格泡沫总有一天会破裂，价格不可能永远上涨下去，”他在一封电子邮件中补充道。

“就标本的潜在科学价值而言，如果没有专家进行适当且经过验证的研究，很难说，”霍恩说。“如果该标本最终被公共收藏并可供研究，我会非常惊讶，因此在此之前，它实际上还处于科学研究之外。”