A rare dinosaur skeleton resembling a miniature Tyrannosaurus rex has sold for US$47.3 million (about RM198 million) at an auction in New York, making it one of the most expensive dinosaur fossils ever sold.
The skeleton, nicknamed “Jodi”, belongs to Nanotyrannus, a dinosaur recently confirmed by research to be a distinct genus and a distant relative of T. rex, rather than simply a juvenile specimen.
Auction house Sotheby’s had estimated that the fossil would fetch between US$6 million and US$9 million. However, it attracted fierce competition before an anonymous buyer secured it after a roughly 12-minute auction on Tuesday.
The winning bidder outbid five other prospective buyers who participated online and by telephone.
Jodi is now the second-most expensive dinosaur skeleton ever sold at auction. It follows the sale of a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil known as “Gus”, which fetched a record US$50.1 million at Sotheby’s this summer.
One Of Only Three Known Skeletons
Jodi is one of only three known Nanotyrannus skeletons. The specimen stands 2.9 metres tall and measures nearly six metres long, with about 70% of its skeleton preserved.
It was discovered in 2019 by Montana rancher Jodi Pierson on her property, with the dinosaur later named after her.
The fossil had been displayed at Sotheby’s headquarters in Upper Manhattan earlier this month before going under the hammer.
Nanotyrannus lived around 67 million years ago during the Cretaceous period, when it coexisted with T. rex.
Although the two dinosaurs were related, Nanotyrannus was approximately half the length of an adult T. rex. It also had relatively longer forelimbs, larger claws on its hands and slimmer, blade-like teeth.
Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s head of science and natural history, praised the professional fossil hunters who discovered and excavated the specimen, whose work was featured in the Discovery Channel documentary series Dino Hunters in 2020.
She said their efforts to understand and preserve the fossil demonstrated how individuals could make significant contributions to science.
Debate Over Private Ownership Of Fossils
The sale has also renewed debate over whether scientifically significant fossils should be sold to private collectors or preserved in public institutions.
Some scientists argue that important specimens such as Jodi should be housed in museums, where researchers can study them and the public can view them.
For decades, scientists debated whether Nanotyrannus was a distinct dinosaur or simply a young T. rex. Research published last year concluded that it was a separate genus, adding to the scientific significance of specimens such as Jodi.
