The largest stegosaurus fossil ever found will be auctioned next month with an estimated value of up to $6 million.
The specimen, known as Apex, was unearthed near the Morrison Formation in Colorado, near the town of Dinosaur, in 2023, according to auction house Sotheby’s.
Part of the armored dinosaur was first discovered on the nearby property of commercial paleontologist Jason Cooper, according to the auction house. In total, it is 11 feet high and 20 feet long and includes 247 fossil bones. The dinosaur is believed to be between 146 million and 161 million years old.
Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s senior vice president and global head of science and popular culture, told ABC News she remembers getting a call from Cooper about the find.
“Oh my gosh, we’ve got something amazing on our hands,” Hatton said of the discovery at the time.
Sotheby’s will auction the specimen on July 17 for an estimated $4 million to $6 million in New York. Sotheby’s sold a 200-kilogram Tyrannosaurus rex head in 1997 for $8.3 million.
As for how the Apex earned its name, Sotheby’s says it is believed to be the largest and most complete stegosaurus ever discovered.
For almost a decade, a stegosaurus specimen named Sophie, housed in the National History Museum in London, held the title of the largest and most complete stegosaurus ever discovered. Apex is 30 percent larger than Sophie, based on a femur length of 45 inches, according to Sotheby’s.
“Through the careful process of excavation, preparation and installation, Apex sets a new standard for all future discoveries of this magnitude and further reinforces the enduring appeal of Stegosaurus and its vaunted status in popular culture,” Hatton said in a press release.
But Sotheby’s sale next month could also reignite a long-running debate over whether dinosaur fossils should be sold to private collectors.
Paul David Polley, a professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Indiana University, said auctions often put the focus on finding whole dinosaurs versus studying the surrounding environment, which gives an incomplete picture of the specimen.
“[An auction] fetishizes complete dinosaur skeletons under good careful scientific study,” said David Polley
Also, in the hands of private collectors, fossils may not be available to the public, preventing scientists from studying them.
“Because [the fossils] are in a private collection, they cannot contribute to the diversity of things we know about the world,” said Canadian paleontologist Greg Funston.
Nevertheless, it is legal to sell fossils found on private property in the US. Other countries such as Canada, Brazil and South Africa restrict the sale and export of fossils found in those countries.
David Polley said private landowners will grant access to the person who can pay the most, which is often not scientists. “People are starting to see fossils as having monetary value, and scientists who work for nonprofits don’t have the money to buy fossils,” he said.
Hatton says there are other issues that need to be addressed amid the debate over the private sale of fossils. “I think the debate is more about whether dinosaurs should be considered property, and that’s a much bigger conversation,” Hatton said.
Spencer G. Lucas, an American paleontologist at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, said commercial paleontology can preserve fossils for science and education.
“That is my hope [the fossils] will be available for research,” he said.
Before being sold on July 17, the Apex will be on display at Sotheby’s galleries in New York, the auction house said. The exhibition will be free and open to visitors.
