If you or anyone you know loves dinosaurs and just so happens to have $5 million to $8 million laying around, then Sotheby's has the perfect item going up for auction this month.
Sotheby's announced on Tuesday that it will be auctioning off the fossilized skeleton of a 76-million-year-old Gorgosaurus, a relative of the T. rex, according to the Associated Press.
The skeleton is about 10 feet tall and 22 feet long, according to Sotheby's, and will be included in their Natural History auction on July 28.
"The Gorgosaurus is a fine example of one of the large, late Campanian Theropods endemic to North America," Sotheby's said. "Approximately 77 million years old, the Gorgosaurus is a relative of the deadly T-Rex, yet faster and with a stronger bite force."
The fossil was found in the Judith River Formation near Havre, Montana in 2018. Other Gorgosaurus remains have also been discovered in Alberta, Canada.
"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. Crucially the specimen also contains the three major bones which create the orbit, the feature which distinguishes the Gorgosaurus from the T. rex," Sotheby's said, according to USA Today.
Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s global head of science and popular culture, told the AP that this fossil tops any other rare or unique object that have been auction off in the past.
"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," Hatton said.
Sotheby's noted that this is the only Gorgosaurus available for private ownership, as all the other known fossilized skeletons are on display at museums. For those that can't afford to purchase the fossil, it will be on public display at Sotheby's York Avenue galleries in New York on July 21.
While the Gorgosaurus skeleton is expected to sell for up to $8 million, it won't break the record for the most expensive fossil. That title belongs to Stan, one of the world's most complete T. rex skeletons, that sold for $31.8 million at Christie's in October 2020, according to CNN. The huge skeleton recently found a new home, as it will be put on display at the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi when it opens up in 2025, per CNN.
Other expensive dinosaur fossils that have been sold include Hector, a Deinonychus, that sold for more than $12 million at Christie's in May, and Big John, a Triceratops, who sold for about $7.7 million at an auction in Paris in October 2021.
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