77-Million-Year-Old Skeleton of a Gorgosaurus to Be Auctioned for the First Time

Jason Duaine Hahn
·2 min read
77-Million-Year-Old Skeleton of a Gorgosaurus to Be Auctioned for the First Time

For the first time, a fossilized skeleton of a Gorgosaurus will be put up for auction later this month.

The 77-million-year-old skeleton of Gorgosaurus — a relative to Tyrannosaurus rex — will be auctioned during an event on July 28 in New York, Sotheby's auction house said on its website.

According to the Associated Press, the event will be the first time a Gorgosaurus specimen has ever been placed for private auction. All other skeletons of the dinosaur are in museum collections, the outlet said.

"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, told the AP of the item.

In an Instagram post, Sotheby's said the skeleton being sold was uncovered in 2018 near Havre, Montana, in the Judith River Formation.

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"This discovery was particularly exceptional due to the rarity of Gorgosaurus material south of the Canadian border, this being one of only few found in the United States," the post explained.

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A Sotheby's New York employee demonstrates the size of a Gorgosaurus dinosaur skeleton, the first to be offered at auction, Tuesday, July 5, 2022, in New York.
A Sotheby's New York employee demonstrates the size of a Gorgosaurus dinosaur skeleton, the first to be offered at auction, Tuesday, July 5, 2022, in New York.

Julia Nikhinson/AP Photo

"Translated to 'fierce' or 'terrifying' lizard, the Gorgosaurus was a fearsome apex carnivore that reigned during the Late Cretaceous period, roaming the earth approximately 77 million years ago," the auction house said on Instagram.

The specimen is 10 feet tall and 22 feet long, according to Sotheby's. It is also "very large" for a typical Gorgosaurus, a Sotheby's representative told USA Today ahead of the auction.

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"This specimen, which was a very large, mature individual at the time of death, has a particularly well-preserved skull, including a left maxilla and an assortment of cranial bones," they explained to the outlet. "Crucially the specimen also contains the three major bones which create the orbit, the feature which distinguishes the Gorgosaurus from the T. rex."

The auction house expects the skeleton to fetch between $5 million to $8 million.