10-Foot Tall Gorgosaurus Skeleton Sold by Sotheby's Auction House Angers Paleontologists

Paleontologists have long been outraged about private sales of dinosaur skeletons, but selling a 10-foot-tall Gorgosaurus skeleton brought it back to the forefront. The fossil was sold at a $6.1 million sale at Sotheby's auction house in New York.

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Dinosaur Skeleton Background

Enraged Paleontologists

According to American paleontologist Steve Brusatte, connected to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, dinosaurs are evolving into commodities traded on the world market. It is considered a luxury good, accessible only to the wealthiest individuals. It is similar to fine art, classic cars, or old whiskey bottles. They are merely toys for the wealthy; he told the Daily Mail. He added that it is effectively lost to science if an oligarch purchases a dinosaur skeleton and displays it in the foyer of one of his mansions.

A paleontologist from Carthage College in Wisconsin, Thomas Carr, said that sales like this are like throwing the last copy of a book into the fire. He said that once a private collector bought the skeleton, it was no longer available to scientists.

Carr asserted that dinosaur fossils must be stored in a location accessible to the scientific community, such as the Museum of Natural History in New York City, to prevent their eventual extinction.

Normally, museums fund the sales by buying the specimens outright or sending a collector to bid on their behalf. However, in recent years, the artifacts have come to be valued as valuable works of art by the wealthy, and museums cannot compete with the high prices.

The Importance of Acquiring Specimens from Ancient Species

Although a dinosaur's sex may not be significant to the general public, it is significant to the scientific community that seeks to understand prehistoric history. These extinct animals also contributed significantly to advancing evolutionary theory and other scientific ideas, including plate tectonics and biogeography.

The T. rex's forerunner, the Gorgosaurus, is one of only 20 specimens of its kind that have been found to date, making the sale of the one in July particularly harmful to science because many more are required to identify particular traits. For instance, to learn how to recognize features that determine the sex of the dinosaur, at least 70 specimens must be studied.

Auction House Stands on Selling Fossils

Auction houses claim that there is no proof that sales to private collectors harm scientific research.

Sotheby's Senior Vice President Cassandra Hatton said that the great museums of the world all began as private collections. She pointed out that the very concept of a museum was born from the early modern tradition of cabinets of curiosity. She added that the specimens have endured for millions of years and will endure for millions more. Although they might not be accessible for research immediately after the sale, they will undoubtedly be accessible at some point in the future.

Private collectors and research organizations can complement one another in ways critical to the long-term preservation of fossil specimens and raising awareness and educating the public about dinosaurs.

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Previous Auctions of Fossils

In 1997, a unique Tyrannosaurus rex fossil was sold. According to the Washington Post, after eight minutes of fierce bidding, Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History paid an astounding $8.4 million for the fossil. The museum received assistance from its corporate friends at McDonald's and Disney.

After outbidding two other museums and at least one private collector for the prehistoric prize, Field Museum President John McCarter announced that the winning bid, which is thought to be a record for a fossil, will put the 65-million-year-old T-Rex on public display in 2000.

On the other, according to National Geographic, Big John, a fossilized Triceratops, was auctioned off by auctioneer Alexandre Giquello. On Oct. 21, Big John was purchased by an unnamed U.S. buyer for $7.7 million, including commissions.