The ancient skeleton of a Gorgosaurus went up for auction for the first time today and sold for just over $6 million. Whoever bought it — which is currently unknown — now also has the unusual opportunity to name it.
About 77 million years old, the Gorgosaurus is a relative of the deadly Tyrannosaurus rex, but faster and with a stronger bite force, according to Sotheby’s, the sale organizer. Sotheby’s offeredthe Gorgosaurus as a highlight in its Natural History auction that begantoday at 10:00 a.m. ET. The rare fossil wasexpected to attract bids of up to $8 million, according to the auction house.
The fossil was discovered in 2018 on private land in the Judith River Formation, in Montana’s Choteau County, and has 79 bone elements, according to Sotheby’s. All other known Gorgosaurus skeletons are in museum collections, making this one the only specimen of its kind offered for private ownership — which some scientists consider problematic for scientific study.
“In my career, I have had the privilege of handling and selling many exceptional and unique objects, but few have the capacity to inspire wonder and capture imaginations quite like this unbelievable Gorgosaurus skeleton,” Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s global head of science and popular culture, said in a news release.
“Excavated only a few years ago, a Gorgosaurus has never before been offered at auction, and the opportunity of sharing this dinosaur with the public for the first time is an immense pleasure and a highlight of my career.”
Just over 9 feet (2.8 meters) tall and 22 feet (6.7 meters) long, the Gorgosaurus was an apex carnivore that resided in the United States and Canada during the late Cretaceous period. Like T. rex, the Gorgosaurus is a large theropod and has similar features, such as an enormous head with dozens of sharp, curved teeth and two small front limbs.
“As the master hunter of its time, in which it was believed to have hunted in packs of four, the Gorgosaurus was a dominant force and a singular predator,” according to Sotheby’s. The dinosaur’s name is derived from the Greek words for “fierce lizard.”
Fossil auctions and ethics
The sale of the Gorgosaurus isSotheby’s second sale of a fossilized dinosaur skeleton. In 1997, the auction house sold the T. rex fossil nicknamed Sue, one of the largest and most complete dinosaur fossils ever found, to the Chicago-based Field Museum for $8.36 million. The specimen was named after collector Sue Hendrickson, who discovered the significant find. Excavated from South Dakota, Sue was the most valuable fossil to ever sell at auction at the time.
The auctioning of Sue was alsocontroversial and, at the time, the latest example of a new challenge for the management of fossil resources: John W. Hoganson, paleontologist emeritus of the North Dakota Geological Survey, wrote in a 1998 edition of the survey’s newsletter of the potential impact on scientific advancement of “a thriving international market for fossils and the resulting collecting and selling of fossils by profiteers.”
“The professional paleontology community anxiously anticipated the T. rex auction because of uncertainty as to whether the important specimen would end up in a private collection, thereby making it unavailable for scientific study and public display, or in a public repository in this country,” he wrote. “The ultimate concern was the effect the sale would have on the science of paleontology.”
During Hoganson’s tenure, he established the North Dakota State Fossil Collection and was involved with bringing about a federal law to protect fossil resources on federal lands in the US, according to the state’s government.
Stan, the world’s most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, set a new world record in 2020 when it sold for $31.8 million at Christie’s. At the time of sale, paleontologists feared the fossil was lost to science, but in March the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism revealed plans for Stan to be a star attraction at a new museum of natural history, expected to open in 2025 in Abu Dhabi, as CNN previously reported.
As Sue remains on public display at the Field Museum, Stan awaits a permanent home, andthe Gorgosaurushas beensold, some scientists aren’t happy that this trend is continuing.
“In my own opinion, there are only cons,” said P. David Polly, a professor and chair of the department of Earth and atmospheric sciences at Indiana University Bloomington. “While certainly there is no law in the US that supports this for fossils that come off private land, it’s easy for me as a scientist to argue that that fossil is important to all of us, and really ought to be going into a public repository where it can be studied — where the public at large can learn from it and enjoy it.”
Fossils on private lands belong to private individuals who can do what they want with them, whereas fossils on public lands are regulated by the federal government and essentially belong to the government or “the people, if you will,” Polly said. “When there is a fossil that goes up for auction like this and is predicted to make millions of dollars, one of the things that does is it says to private landholders that the fossils on their land really ought to be monetized.”
Other scientific experts, however, acknowledged that museum collecting has historically included acquisitions from commercial sources.
“It makes me sad that there’s a price tag on dinosaurs,” but “it’s not a black or white issue,” said Gregory Erickson, a professor of anatomy and vertebrate paleobiology at Florida State University in Tallahassee. “There is a history of museums buying commercial specimens.”
“It’s a brave new world for our science,” said vertebrate paleontologist Steve Brusatte, professor and Personal Chair of Paleontology and Evolution at the University of Edinburgh, via email. “In a world where dinosaur skeletons fetch millions, where does that leave scientists and museums, who can’t afford such inflated prices?”
And what did Polly think would be the best-case outcome of this auction? “That whoever is selling it would listen to what I just said and have a conversion experience and donate it to a museum,” he said. “The second best would be that somebody wealthy heard this kind of message and gave a lot of money (to a museum) so that can be purchased for a museum.”
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
