It's one of only four Ceratosaurus skeletons that have ever been discovered, and it's the only specimen of a juvenile Ceratosaurus.
Matthew Sherman/Sotheby’sThe juvenile Ceratosaurus skeleton is the only one of its kind.
The skeleton of a Ceratosaurus dinosaur was sold at auction for $30.5 million, making it the third-most-expensive fossil to ever sell at auction.
Before going up at auction, the fossil was on display at the Mountain America Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah. The Ceratosaurus fossil was originally estimated to go for between $4 million and $6 million.
The specimen is the only juvenile skeleton of its species ever found, and is only the fourth Ceratosaurus skeleton ever discovered.
The Ceratosaurus’ Journey To Auction
Matthew Sherman/Sotheby’sThe Ceratosaurus skeleton is fragile due to it being that of a younger dinosaur.
The juvenile Ceratosaurus skeleton was first discovered in 1996 near Bone Cabin Quarry, Wyoming. The area is known to be a dinosaur fossil hot-spot.
It was a miraculous find — only three other Ceratosaurus skeletons have been found, according to Sotheby’s, where the fossil was put up for auction. It’s also the only one of these skeletons to be a juvenile.
The skeleton stands more than six feet tall and measures about 11 feet long, and dates back over 150 million years. It also has an almost complete skull, one of the main selling points of the fossil. The juvenile skeleton is made up of 139 original fossil bone elements as well as sculpted materials.
The Ceratosaurus dinosaurs are characterized by their distinctive nasal horns and bony-armored backs and tails. The carnivore would’ve roamed the floodplains of the modern-day American West.
By 2000, the skeleton had been acquired by the Mountain America Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah. It was on display at the museum for over 20 years. But last year, 2024, the museum sold the skeleton for an undisclosed sum to a company called Fossilogic.
Fossilogic had been formed by a man named Brock Sisson, who had worked at the Mountain America Museum of Ancient Life back when he was a teenager. After the company finished and mounted the Ceratosaurus specimen, they prepared to put it up for auction at Sotheby’s.
In total, the bidding lasted just six minutes. As of now, Sotheby’s has not revealed who the Ceratosaurus skeleton was sold to.
The Auction At Sotheby’s Sold The Third-Most-Expensive Fossil
Matthew Sherman/Sotheby’sThe Ceratosaurus skeleton is about six feet tall and 11 feet long.
The Ceratosaurus skeleton sold for millions more than its original estimated value. Before the auction, Sotheby’s had estimated the fossil would go for between $4 million and $6 million. It sold for $30.5 million.
It’s the third-most-expensive fossil to have ever been sold at auction. Sotheby’s also sold the biggest record breaker, the largest Stegosaurus fossil named Apex, for $44.6 million to billionaire Kenneth Griffin last year. Meanwhile, a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton named Stan holds second place, which sold at Christie’s for $31.8 million in 2020.
The Ceratosaurus skeleton was reportedly not studied at its former institution. According to The New York Times, this fact, combined with the high selling point, may be bad news in the eyes of some paleontologists.
The president of the Association of Applied Paleontological Sciences, Andre LuJan, told The New York Times he is concerned about the possible financial challenges that commercial paleontology operators might encounter. It could now be more expensive for digs to take place on private lands.
“Are museums going to look at these fossils from private lands as a potential cash cow?” LuJan asked. “This was something that was accepted by everyone as hallowed ground, and now it’s been desecrated.”
Cassandra Hatton, the vice chairman and global head of science and natural history at Sotheby’s, disagreed with this take, also adding the new owner is planning on loaning the Ceratosaurus skeleton to a museum.
“This dinosaur was in a privately held institution for 30 years. It was not studied at that institution,” Hatton said. “There is now perhaps the opportunity that it will be studied.”
After reading about the Ceratosaurus that sold for $30.5 million, discover the controversial story of a fossil-hunter selling baby T. rex bones on eBay. Then, learn about the biggest Martian meteorite that ever went up for auction.
