Getty Image / Lev Radin
Remember searching for old fossils in rocks as a kid? I’m sure we all did it, and we’d be thrilled to find what were ultimately worthless remains of life on earth tens of millions of years ago in some cases. I don’t think any of us new fossils could go for money that would make an NBA star blush.
That’s what happened when a nearly-complete skeleton of a stegosaurus named Apex went to auction via Sotheby’s. The auction closed Wednesday morning and the price shocked everyone.
According to CBS News, the full skeleton sold for a whopping $44 million, a huge record for any dinosaur fossil, beating a T-rex that sold for $32 million in 2020.
This stegosaurus is as American as apple pie, as it was discovered in Dinosaur, Colorado, named for the incredible amount of intact fossils found there.
And, the buyer of the dinosaur is an American, too. American hedge fund magnate Ken Griffin bought the skeleton. He’s no stranger to large purchases, as he bought a privately-held copy of the U.S. Constitution for over $43 million. When you’re worth $38 billion, you can afford to do such things.
I would like to know what he plans on doing with the stegosaurus. Imagine walking into someone’s mansion and being greeted with that. Quite the conversation piece.
The stegosaurus first appeared around 150 million years ago, and is found in North America. It was a herbivore that may have used its long spiked tail to ward off predators. They could grow up to 25 feet long and could weight up to 10,000lbs.