A complete skeleton of a 150 million-year-old stegosaurus has become the world’s most expensive fossil ever sold.
The magnificently preserved bones took two whole summers to excavate after a fossil hunter saw some of the bones sticking up out of the ground on his private ranch.
The 27-ft-long skeleton, nicknamed “Apex”, includes 254 of the around 320 bones that made up the entire beast.
It was put up for sale at Southeby’s high-stakes Natural History Auction as the crown jewel of the sale on July 17 and billed as “the largest and most complete stegosaurus ever to be found”.
It lay undiscovered for 150 million years on the private ranch of fossil hunter Jason Cooper, who saw a huge femur bone and dorsal plates poking out during a birthday walk there in May 2022 in Moffat County, Colorado.
It eventually sold for US£44.6 million (£34.5 million) to an anonymous buyer, later identified as billionaire Citadel hedge fund founder Ken Griffin, who has promised the relic will stay in the US, with the possibility of him loaning it out to institutions.
Mr Cooper replaced the missing bones with 3D printed versions to complete the remarkable specimen which was mounted on a steel frame which simulates an attacking pose.
The previous record holder for a fossil cost was a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton called “Stan” which was sold through Christie’s to the UAE city of Abu Dhabi last year for US$31.8 million (£24.6 million).
With a pre-auction estimate of US$6 million (£4.6 million), bidding for Apex started at just US$3 million (£2.3 million) but offers soared past the cost of Stan within ten minutes.
Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s Global Head of Science & Popular Culture, said: “Apex lived up to its name today, inspiring bidders globally to become the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction.
“This sale has been years in the making, and at every turn, we have worked closely with Jason Cooper, from the moment of its discovery in Dinosaur, Colorado, to its sale in New York.
“I am thrilled that such an important specimen has now taken its place in history, some 150 million years since it roamed the planet. This remarkable result underscores our unwavering commitment to preserving these ancient treasures.”
There has been some criticism on X that it is in the hands of a private owner.
One post blasted: “You shouldn’t even be allowed to make buy priceless treasures like this. They should belong to everyone.”
