Sotheby's will auction the "Apex" Stegosaurus fossil in New York on July 17, with a starting price of $4 to $6 million, making it the first instance of an auction house bringing a dinosaur specimen to market from the day of its discovery.
The fossil was discovered in May 2022 by Jason Cooper on his property near Dinosaur, Colorado. It is considered the finest and most complete Stegosaurus specimen ever found, measuring 11ft tall and 20ft long.
The fossil is nearly 70% complete, with unusual proportions and evidence of arthritis but no combat or predator damage, indicating the dinosaur lived to old age.
Dinosaur fossils have fetched high prices at auctions, such as a Tyrannosaurus rex for $8.36 million in 1997 and "Stan" for $31.8 million in 2020. The "Apex" Stegosaurus fossil sets a new standard for future discoveries of this magnitude and continues Sotheby's legacy of pioneering Natural History auctions.
This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq
Sources: The Guardian, The New York Times, Forbes, The Coast Guard, West Side People Mag, NYC Culture Beat