The skeleton of a young Tyrannosaurus caused a stir at a Sotheby's auction – BBC

Sotheby's auction house in New York sold a young Tyrannosaurus rex specimen nicknamed "Jody" for $47.3 million. The bidding lasted 12 minutes with six bidders participating, and the final price was nearly five times the initial estimate of $9 million.

The Late Cretaceous predator stands about three meters tall and consists of 191 bone elements and a well-preserved skull. This transaction ranked second among the most expensive dinosaur sales, behind the Tyrannosaurus rex “Gus” ($50.1 million) and ahead of the Stegosaurus “Apex” ($44.6 million). The sale to a private buyer has reignited the scientific debate over whether unique fossil remains should be transferred to private collections rather than museum exhibits.

 

Source: BBC.

It should be noted that Tyrannosaurus rex specimens are frequent items at auctions. For example, on July 14, 2026, a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton nicknamed “Gus” was sold at a Sotheby’s’s in New York for a record $50.1 million, marking the highest price ever paid for a dinosaur fossil. 

In Switzerland, a Tyrannosaurus skeleton named “Trinity” was sold for $6.1 million. It consists of bones from three different dinosaurs dating back 65 to 67 million years.