Sotheby's auction house sells a baby dinosaur for $30.5 million

Auction house Sotherby's, as part of its " Geek Week," has auctioned off dozens of objects related to science and technology. Parts of old Soyuz spacecraft consoles, food taken to the moon by Apollo astronauts, a triceratops horn, and a megalodon tooth could all be purchased this week from a starting price of $2,000 (€1,700). However, the crown jewels of the collection were the skeleton of a baby dinosaur, specifically a Ceratosaurus nasicornis, one of a kind and sold for $30.5 million (€26.30 million); and the largest Martian meteorite ever found on Earth, which reached a bid of $5.3 million (€4.32 million).

Discovered in 1996 at the historic Bone Cabin Quarry site in Wyoming, the Ceratosaurus fossil is a scientific gem. Approximately 154 million years old, it is the only known juvenile specimen of this Jurassic- era carnivorous species. To date, only four complete Ceratosaurus skeletons have been found, and this is the only one that corresponds to a juvenile.

The skeleton measures 3.2 meters long and 1.9 meters high. It preserves 139 original skeletal elements, including a complete skull, including its characteristic horn-like nose and the row of bony plates that ran along its back and tail. Cassandra Hatton, vice president of Science and Natural History at Sotheby's, described it as "a marvel of prehistoric preservation."

The auction house estimated the fossil could fetch between $4 and $6 million; however, after an "intense six-minute bidding war," according to a statement from the auction house, the piece reached $30.5 million, becoming the third-highest price for a dinosaur at auction.

«The Ceratosaurus now joins the pantheon of extraordinary dinosaurs sold at Sotheby's, following in the footsteps of ' Apex ,' the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction, which sold for $44.6 million in 2024 and is now on loan to the American Museum of Natural History; the Gorgosaurus in 2022, which fetched $6.1 million; and 'Sue,' the T. rex, the first dinosaur ever sold at auction, which fetched $8.4 million at Sotheby's in 1997 and is now at the Field Museum in Chicago,» they say. The buyer of the Ceratosaurus intends to give it to an institution, »as befits a specimen of this rarity and importance,» Sotheby's says.

But not everything in the auction came from Earth. Along with the dinosaur, Sotheby's was also offering the largest fragment of Mars ever found on our planet: meteorite NWA 16788. Weighing 24.67 kilograms, this space rock, discovered in 2023 in the Agadez Desert in Niger, constitutes 6.5% of all known Martian mass that fell to Earth.

Its intense reddish color, colossal size, and the presence of impact-formed glass revealed a violent origin: it was launched into space by a powerful asteroid impact from the Martian surface. After a cosmic journey lasting countless years, it landed in the Sahara. The rock was validated by the Meteoritical Society and exhibited in venues such as the Italian Space Agency. Sotheby's estimated its auction price would be between $2 and $4 million, but ultimately, after a 15-minute bidding period, the piece reached $5.3 million.

Although it may seem surprising that fossils and meteorites end up at private auctions, Sotheby's has been auctioning these types of objects for years. The sale of the T. rex 'Sue' in 1997 marked a turning point. More recently, in 2024, the sale of the 'Apex' fossil reached $45 million, setting a world record.

Criticism has not been lacking, especially from scientific circles concerned about the potential loss of access to unique specimens. However, the auction house points out, "many of these objects end up in museums or collections open to the public thanks to donations or loans."