A Tyrannosaurus rex fossil of unprecedented completeness is set to shatter auction records when it goes under the hammer on Tuesday in New York. Estimated to fetch a staggering $30 million (approximately £23.5 million), 'Gus' – named after its discovery site, a former cattle rancher's land – is one of only a handful of T. rex specimens found with almost all bones intact.
The sale, organised by Sotheby's, marks a growing trend where private collectors are snapping up major fossil finds at increasingly high prices. This has sparked intense debate within the scientific community over whether such vital discoveries should be acquired primarily by museums and research institutions. Cassandra Hatton, global head of natural history at Sotheby's, acknowledges the immense effort involved in fossil discovery, highlighting the often gruelling conditions faced by hunters who spend months searching for these prehistoric remains.
The team that discovered Gus spent three years meticulously excavating the fossil in South Dakota's 'Badlands', following its initial discovery on the land of the late cattle rancher Gary 'Gus' Licking. The excavation process is limited to the warmer 'field season', making it a time-sensitive operation. After extraction, the fossil underwent another three years of intensive laboratory work for documentation and reconstruction – a crucial step in preserving the specimen.
However, the escalating value of these specimens poses a significant challenge for public institutions. Professor Susannah Maidment, a dinosaur researcher at London's Natural History Museum (NHM), voiced concerns that museums are being 'priced out' of acquiring many important fossils. She stressed the critical need for researchers to have access to original fossils for anatomical studies, saying, "There's no substitute for having the real fossil."
The five most expensive dinosaurs sold at auction since 2020 have all been T. rex specimens, including 'Stan', which sold for $31.8 million in 2020 against an initial guide price of $6-8 million. The sale of Gus underscores the tension between rewarding the difficult work of fossil hunters and ensuring that invaluable scientific heritage remains accessible for public education and research.