Rare Nanotyrannus Skeleton, Once Mistaken for Baby T. Rex, Goes on Sale in New York

A mounted skeleton of Nanotyrannus, a dinosaur long mistaken for a young Tyrannosaurus rex, goes on the auction block in New York on Tuesday, with a starting price of at least $6 million, the BBC reported. Sotheby's expects it to fetch up to $9 million.

The sale is reviving a debate among scientists over whether rare dinosaur remains should be sold to private buyers or kept where researchers and the public can see them.

What is being sold

The skeleton is nicknamed Jodi and stands roughly 10 feet tall. Sotheby's described it as exhibition-ready, with about 191 fossil-bone elements and a beautifully preserved, nearly complete skull. The auction house said it is one of only three such skeletons known to science.

It is the first Nanotyrannus specimen to come to market since U.S. researchers confirmed the genus last October, according to Sotheby's. Researchers Lindsay Zanno and James Napoli published the paper that classified Nanotyrannus as separate from T. rex, ending decades of debate. Their work leaned heavily on the fossil known as Dueling Dinosaurs, which shows what appear to be a Nanotyrannus and a Triceratops in combat.

Jodi was found in Montana by rancher Jodi Pierson on her land in the Hall Creek Formation, a heavily studied site. Commercial paleontologist Clayton Phipps excavated it. Phipps also found the Dueling Dinosaurs fossil in 2006, about eight miles from where Jodi was found. The skeleton was first shown in October 2023 at the Frieze Masters art fair in London, billed as a juvenile T. rex, before the genus was formally recognized.

Why the fossil matters to scientists

Megan Jenkins, a paleontologist at the University of Portsmouth, told BBC Radio 4's Today program that Nanotyrannus was long believed to be a teenage T. rex. She said it is in fact much smaller and more slender, with blade-like teeth suited to slicing meat. Both animals lived in the same period, about 67 million years ago.

One side: public access should come first

Steve Brusatte, a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh and a consultant on the Jurassic Park films, has been critical of such sales. After Sotheby's sold a T. rex named Gus for a record $50.1 million in July, he told the BBC World Service that the sale was concerning. He said he knew of no museum or university that could afford that kind of price, and compared it to a wealthy person owning the Mona Lisa and keeping it out of sight.

Responding to the new sale, Brusatte called it “harrowing” that Jodi could vanish from public view. He said scientists have only just established that Nanotyrannus is real, and he feared one of the best skeletons could end up in a private collector's vault instead of a museum. He has also said such sales could harm scientific research and public education if they become a trend, and other researchers told the BBC that such remains should be shown in public spaces where they can be studied freely.

The other side: the work and cost deserve recognition

Jenkins said there are two sides to the question. She noted that a great deal of time, effort and money goes into excavating specimens like this one, and said she does not begrudge the people involved for wanting to sell for a large sum. She called the prospect scary, but said many such fossils have ended up in public view and that, in her view, they will without doubt reach a museum eventually.

What's at stake for the public

For museum visitors and students, the question is whether one of only three known Nanotyrannus skeletons will be displayed and open to study or held privately. The buyer has not been disclosed, and the result of the sale was not available at the time of the BBC report. The outcome may also show whether prices set by the Gus sale carry over to other rare dinosaur skeletons.

Around Prague, based on reporting by BBC News, The Guardian