Stegosaurus skeleton nicknamed Apex sells for record $44.6m

Sotheby’s sells fossil to anonymous American bidder, smashing prior auction record of $31.8m for tyrannosaurus rex Stan.

The largest stegosaurus skeleton ever found has been sold for a record-breaking $44.6m at a New York auction.

Nicknamed Apex, the 150-million-year-old skeleton – standing 11 feet (3.3 metres) tall and 27 feet (8.2 metres) long – was sold on Wednesday to an anonymous American buyer, said Sotheby’s.

The staggering price far exceeded the auction house’s presale estimate of $4-6m, smashing a prior auction record of $31.8m set by tyrannosaurus rex, called Stan, in 2020.

Dinosaur fossil sales are controversial among scientists who feel the specimens belong in museums or research centres that cannot afford huge auction prices.

Sotheby’s said the buyer, who beat six other bidders, intended to look into loaning Apex to an institution in the United States.

Apex “has now taken its place in history, some 150 million years since it roamed the planet”, said Cassandra Hatton, who heads Sotheby’s science-related business.

She called Apex “a colouring book dinosaur” for its well-preserved features. The stegosaurus was one of the world’s most distinctive dinosaurs, featuring pointy plates on its back.

Apex was discovered in May 2022 on the private land of palaeontologist Jason Cooper near the town of Dinosaur, Colorado.

Sotheby’s closely collaborated with Cooper to document the entire process of discovery, excavation, restoration, preparation, and mounting.

In 2022, Christie’s auction house had to withdraw a tyrannosaurus rex skeleton a few days before the auction in Hong Kong, owing to doubts about its authenticity.

The name Apex was intended to highlight the prominence of the find – between 79 and 85 percent fossil – within the stegosaurus family. Fifty percent of a fossil is generally considered a significant find.

Apex lived long enough to show signs of arthritis, Sotheby’s said.

Stegosaurus skeletons are on display around the world, but Sotheby’s said Apex is 30 percent larger than Sophie, the most complete stegosaurus on public display to date, which is housed in the Natural History Museum in London.

Wednesday’s auction follows an increasing trend for the sale of dinosaur remains.