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In what has become the third-highest price ever paid for a dinosaur skeleton, a 150 million-year-old juvenile ceratosaurus skeleton sold at Sotheby’s auction for $30.5 million this week.
The carnivorous dinosaur called North America home 150 million years ago but that doesn’t mean the fully intact skeletons are prevalent. This ceratosaurus sold at auction by Sotheby’s was one of just four complete specimens from this dinosaur species known to exist.
Ceratosaurus Skeleton Makes History At Sotheby’s Auction
$30.5 million after fees is truly an unprecedented amount for this juvenile ceratosaurus skeleton even if it is in immaculate condition after 150 million years.
Going into the auction, Sotheby’s auction house had estimated it would sell for between $4-6 million during its The Natural History sale. For it to jump from $4-6 million up to the third-most expensive dinosaur specimen ever sold at auction is not something anyone could have predicted.
Auctioneer Phyllis Kao, the best in the business, was on the podium for the huge auction. She had the privilege of announcing the moment this ceratosaurus skeleton was sold.
A TikTok video shared by the Sotheby’s auction house shows that exact moment the skeleton was sold. It quickly went viral and has picked up over 2.5 million views and counting in under 24 hours.
Was it worth it? Commenters chime in
Anytime an inanimate object sells for more than most folks make in a lifetime, people have thoughts. The comments are alive with people opining on the sale.
Commenter RossGoldie chimed in to say “everything about this feels so dystopian.” User6547 wrote “personally, I never pay over $25M for my juvenile certosaurs but that’s just me.”
One commenters, @Senschik, questioned the morality of the purchase. They wrote “people are actually purchasing dinosaurs for $26 million and there are people without food. Make this make sense.” Another wrote “people have too much money.”
Where were all of these people when Nic Cage had a 70 million-year-old dinosaur skull? A skull he later had to return to the Mongolian government after he went broke.
Sotheby’s also shared close-up footage of the specimen:
@sothebys One of just four ceratosaur skeletons known to exist—and the only juvenile, this impeccably preserved #fossil sparked a heated bidding battle in the #SothebysNewYork sale room today. Soaring past its $4–6 million estimate, auctioneer #PhyllisKao dropped the hammer for a final price of $30.5 million. The result makes this the third most valuable #dinosaur fossil ever sold, with last year’s APEX the Stegosaurus holding the current world record. Geek Week continues with the History of #Science & Technology online auction, closing tomorrow, 17 July.
According to the New York Times, Sotheby’s auction house has yet to reveal the identity of the purchaser. BroBible is monitoring that and I will update as more details become available.
Content shared from brobible.com.