Sotheby's in New York recently announced that the fossilized skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex relative will be auctioned this month. The skeleton belongs to the Gorgosaurus, which lived 76 million years ago, about 10 million years before the T. rex appeared.
The Gorrgosaurus skeleton is the star of Sotheby's natural history auction on July 28, NPR reported. During the Late Cretaceous Period, the dinosaur was once an apex carnivore that lived in North America, particularly in the US and Canada.
An art handler looks at a Gorgosaurus Skeleton measuring 10 feet tall (3.04 meters) as it is unveiled at Sothebys in New York, on July 05, 2022. - The Specimen is the highlight of Sothebys geek week sale series and is estimated at $5 to 8 million.
Discovery of the Gorgosaurus Skeleton
Sotheby's said that the Gorgosaurus specimen was discovered in 2018 in the Judith River Formation near Havre, Montana. It measures about 10 feet tall (3 meters) and 22 feet long (6.7 meters) and could weigh up to 2 tons.
Cassandra Hatton, the house's global head of science and popular culture, said that this would be the first time a Gorgosaurus skeleton will be offered at auction as all the other known skeletons are in the museum collections.
She added that despite having the privilege of handling and selling exceptional and unique objects, only a few of them have inspired wonder and captured the imagination, like the unbelievable Gorgosaurus skeleton. The specimen is estimated to be valued at a starting price of $5 million to $8 million.
According to USA Today, the Gorgosaurus has a large head, dozens of curved and serrated teeth, and two-fingered limbs. Sotheby's said that the specimen was a very large, mature individual when it died and had a well-preserved skull. More so, it still has crucial parts that contain the three bones that create the feature that distinguishes it from its T.rex relative.
The place where it was found also helped maintain its structure that the specimen was often described as a "remarkably pristine" skeleton. It was found in a river where it was buried by sediments.
The fossilized skeleton will be available to the public on July 21 at Sotheby's York Avenue galleries in New York. But it will not be until July 28 that it will be the highlight of the house's natural history auction.
What You Need to Know About Gorgosaurus
Gorgosaurus is from the tyrannosaurid family and is as big as other tyrannosaurs, such as the Albertosaurus and Despletosaurus, albeit smaller than the T. rex and Tarbosaurus, according to an article in Walking With.
They could approximately reach 20 to 30 feet long (8 to 9 meters) and weigh more than 3 tons. They coexisted with the Daspletosaurus and could have also competed for food sources during their time. Their notable hunting skill is that they hunt in packs to prey on giant dinosaurs and might have also been cannibalistic.
Moreover, the main features of Gorgosaurus are their two horn-like bumps above their eyes that were probably just for display since they have no functional use for battle, unlike the horned ceratopsian.
Models of Gorgosaurus depict the apex predator as having bright blue and yellow color under the chin to the belly and a tail covered in black stripes. It also has muscular legs and is believed to be extremely fast, especially for such a large animal, with a speed of around 30 miles per hour (48 kilometers per hour).
RELATED ARTICLE: Most Complete Fossil of T-Rex Sold at $31.8 Million at New York Auction
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