If you had a spare $44.6 million, you could own the largest stegosaurus fossil in history

A stegosaurus fossil has sold for $44.6 million at auction at Sotheby's New York, a record price for a dinosaur fossil. The buyer said he plans to keep the dinosaur in the United States and perhaps even loan it to a museum. At 11 feet tall and 27 feet long from nose to tail, it is the largest stegosaurus ever found.

A stegosaurus fossil discovered in Colorado in 2022 was named “Apex” because of its size. The nickname took on new meaning after the complete skeleton sold for $44.6 million at a Sotheby's auction in New York City, setting a new record for the price of a fossil.

Standing 11 feet tall and measuring 27 feet long from nose to tail, Apex is not only the largest stegosaurus fossil ever discovered, but also one of the most complete. There are 254 fossilized bone elements, for a total of about 319 in the complete skeleton. And there's evidence that Apex suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, which leads experts to believe this large adult likely lived a long life.

That made the specimen an attractive prize for potential buyers, with seven bidders participating in a 15-minute live auction, the winner of which was confirmed to be hedge fund Citadel founder Ken Griffin, who in 2021 indicated he was willing to pay $43.2 million for a copy of the U.S. Constitution on loan to the Crystal Bridges Museum in Arkansas, 11 times the minimum estimated price of $4 million.

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Apex has a long history — experts believe it's around 150 million years old — but it's also relatively recent. Professional paleontologist Jason Cooper discovered the fossil in 2022 on his land in Moffat County, Colorado, near the town of Dinosaur, naturally. Cooper found the bones embedded in the Morrison Formation, a layer of sedimentary rock from the Upper Jurassic Period.

The sale of the bones has been on the agenda since day one.

“This sale has been years in the making and we have worked closely with Jason Cooper every step of the way, from the moment it was discovered at Dinosaur in Colorado to the sale in New York. We are thrilled that such an important specimen has made its way into history,” Cassandra Hutton, Sotheby's global head of science and popular culture, said in a statement.

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Preserved in hard sandstone, the bones were protected from both the elements and scavengers, and the specimen showed no signs of trauma, allowing the fossils to remain intact for their remarkable size. The find also included three ear ossicles, or throat armor.

Its splendor may soon be on display in the U.S. According to Sotheby's, the successful bidder, believed to be Griffin, declared after winning the auction that Apex was born in the U.S. and plans to remain here. Sotheby's confirmed that the successful bidder would consider loaning the specimen to a U.S. institution.

Steve Brusatte, a professor of paleontology and evolution at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, told CNN the discovery is significant because there are far fewer stegosaurus skeletons known compared to other well-known dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops.

Before the sale, he hoped that the wealthy individual who purchased the fossil would donate it to the museum.

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Stegosaurus is believed to have lived in the United States during the Late Jurassic Period, around 150 million years ago. Known as a slow-moving herbivore, its spiny tail was probably its best defense mechanism. According to the museum, the bony plates on the animal's back were embedded in its skin, rather than attached to the skeleton. Stegosaurus had a small head compared to the size of its body, and its brain is thought to have been only the size of a plum.

The auction house has a history of selling dinosaurs, the first of which was a Tyrannosaurus rex named Sue, which sold for $8.4 million at Sotheby's in 1997. More recently, another Tyrannosaurus rex named Stan set the previous sales price record when it reached $31.8 million at a Christie's auction in 2020. Apex has surpassed them all.

Tim Newcomb is a journalist based in the Pacific Northwest. He has covered stadiums, sneakers, equipment, infrastructure and more for a variety of publications including Popular Mechanics. Some of his favorite interviews include with Roger Federer in Switzerland, Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles and Tinker Hatfield in Portland.

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