Camille Naredo

Article (news)

Tyrannosaurus rex

Reuters Wires

A nearly 38-foot Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton named &quot;Gus&quot; sold for $50.1 million at Sotheby&#x27;s in New York on Tuesday (July 14), surpassing its pre-sale estimate and setting a new auction record for a dinosaur fossil.The mounted skeleton, from the Late Cretaceous period about 67 million years ago, had been estimated to sell for $20 million to $30 million. Sotheby&#x27;s website listed the lot as sold for $50,130,000.Before the sale, the auction record for a dinosaur fossil was held by &quot;Apex,&quot; a Stegosaurus skeleton that sold at Sotheby&#x27;s in 2024 for $44.6 million.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/health-science/2026/5/15/southeast-asia-s-largest-dinosaur-identified-in-thailand-1425">READ: Southeast Asia&#x27;s largest dinosaur identified in Thailand</a></div>Gus was discovered in the Hell Creek Formation in Harding County, South Dakota, on private ranch land owned by the late Gary &quot;Gus&quot; Licking, for whom the fossil was named.&quot;Gus is one of the biggest and most complete T. rex ever found,&quot; said Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby&#x27;s vice chairman and global head of science and natural history, ahead of the auction.The skeleton is approximately 61% complete by bone count, with 183 fossil bone elements and 30 gastralia, or belly ribs, according to Sotheby&#x27;s. It measures about 38 feet in body length and rises 12.5 feet tall. Sotheby&#x27;s said the skull is about 54 inches long and about 82% represented.Hatton said Gus stood out because of &quot;the completeness, the quality, the size, the preservation,&quot; as well as the careful work required to excavate and prepare the fossil.The sale also included copyright connected to the specimen, which Hatton said was unusual for a T. rex offered at auction. She said that could give the buyer rights tied to reproductions and make Gus distinct from other famous specimens, including Stan, the T. rex that sold for about $31.8 million in 2020.Gus was offered as part of Sotheby&#x27;s Geek Week natural history sale.<div>(Camera: Andrew Hofstetter; Production, Editing, Writing: Roselle Chen)</div>

A nearly 38-foot Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton named "Gus" sold for $50.1 million at Sotheby's in New York on Tuesday (July 14), surpassing its pre-sale estimate and setting a new auction record for a dinosaur fossil.

A nearly 38-foot Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton named "Gus" sold for $50.1 million at Sotheby's in New York on Tuesday (July 14), surpassing its pre-sale estimate and setting a new auction record for a dinosaur fossil.

Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton sells for record-breaking $50.1 million

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Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton sells for record-breaking $50.1 million

Reuters

Published July 15, 2026 01:34 AM PHT

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