Overview
- The Tyrannosaurus rex nicknamed 'Gus' was sold at Sotheby’s in New York on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, for $50.1 million, a record price for a fossil.
- Gus is one of the largest and most complete T. rex specimens discovered, measuring about 11.5–11.6 meters long and 3.8 meters tall, composed of 183 fossil elements and roughly 61–63 percent complete.
- The skeleton preserves healed injuries, including a bite mark on the skull, and was excavated on ranchland in Harding County, South Dakota, after three field seasons and laboratory preparation.
- Paleontologists warned before the sale that private ownership can block research and public display because leading journals typically require specimens to be held in public institutions for study.
- The sale follows a recent run of multimillion-dollar fossil auctions and underscores how U.S. laws that let landowners sell finds can drive prices higher and raise long-term risks to museum access and scientific reproducibility.