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Nanotyrannus Skeleton 'Jodi' Sells for $47.3 Million at Auction
· Confirmed
In Short: The mounted skeleton of a newly-identified dinosaur once mistaken for a young Tyrannosaurus rex sold for a colossal $47.3 million (£35.5 million) at a Sotheby's auction in New York.
One of the most complete Nanotyrannus skeletons ever recovered was sold by Sotheby’s in New York City for $47,255,000 on Tuesday, according to the Black Hills Pioneer.
The Nanotyrannus skeleton, nicknamed 'Jodi,' sold Tuesday following a 12-minute bidding battle involving six collectors. The fossil was discovered in 2019 by Montana rancher Jodi Pierson and later excavated by paleontologist Clayton Phipps, known as the 'Dinosaur Cowboy,' and a team of fossil hunters, as reported by NBC Montana.
The auction house said Jodi became the second most valuable dinosaur ever sold at auction, behind the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton Gus, which fetched $50.1 million (€44.9 million) in July, according to The Journal.
The mounted skeleton of a newly-identified dinosaur once mistaken for a young Tyrannosaurus rex has sold at auction for a colossal $47.3m (£35.5m), reported the BBC.
The skeleton, named 'Jodi' after the person who found the remains in 2019, sold at Sotheby’s on Tuesday for $47.3m, 'after a twelve-minute bidding battle that saw six bidders compete online and over the phones, before ultimately selling on the phone,' Sotheby’s said in a statement, as noted by The Guardian.
According to Sotheby's official auction listing, the fossil, nicknamed 'Jodi,' will be offered at a dedicated auction in New York on Tuesday, with an estimated price of $6 million to $9 million. The mounted skeleton stands approximately 2.9 meters (9.5 feet) tall on its display frame, measuring about 6 meters (19.6 feet) from nose to tail, according to the listing.
Scientists identified more than 150 anatomical differences between the Nanotyrannus and T. rex, including longer arms, larger hand claws, and a greater number of teeth. An adult Nanotyrannus measured approximately 5.5 meters (18 feet) long, compared with about 12.2 meters (40 feet) for an adult T. rex.
The new owner of 'Jodi' has, for now, chosen to remain anonymous after outbidding five other prospective buyers online and by phone during the roughly 12-minute live auction, Sotheby’s said.
The specimen comprises 191 fossilized bone elements from a single animal, including a nearly complete skull containing 53 bones and about 50 teeth at different stages of development. The skull is described as 'excellent exhibition-ready' with a 'beautifully preserved, virtually complete skull,' according to Sotheby's.
The sale of Jodi follows Sotheby’s July auction in New York of the Tyrannosaurus rex 'Gus,' which set a world record when it achieved $50.13 million, surpassing the $44.6 million paid for the Stegosaurus 'Apex' in 2024 by billionaire Ken Griffin.
The mounted skeleton of 'Jodi' is one of only three known Nanotyrannus skeletons, and it measures about 6.5 feet (2 meters) tall and nearly 20 feet (6 meters) long, according to Ticker News.
The sale price of $47.3 million exceeded the auction house’s estimate of $6 to $9 million, reported Ticker News.
What this adds
The sale price of $47.3 million exceeded the auction house’s estimate of $6 to $9 million, reported Ticker News.
The total cost of excavation, preparation, and mounting of a skeleton like this is probably on the order of $1m at most, possibly much less, according to The Guardian.
What's confirmed
- According to Sotheby's official auction listing, the fossil, nicknamed "Jodi," will be offered at a dedicated auction in New York on Tuesday, with an estimated price of $6 million to $9 million.
- Scientists identified more than 150 anatomical differences between the two, including Nanotyrannus' longer arms, larger hand claws and greater number of teeth.
- An adult Nanotyrannus measured approximately 5.5 meters (18 feet) long, compared with about 12.2 meters (40 feet) for an adult T. rex.
- Measuring about 6 meters (19.6 feet) from nose to tail, the mounted skeleton stands approximately 2.9 meters (9.5 feet) tall on its display frame, according to the listing.
- A rare 67-million-year-old Nanotyrannus skeleton is set to go under the hammer in New York on Tuesday, with an estimated price of $6 million to $9 million.
- A team led by commercial paleontologist Clayton Phipps excavated the skeleton that year, and it was later acquired by a private collection.
- The mounted skeleton of a newly-identified dinosaur once mistaken for a young Tyrannosaurus rex has sold at auction for a colossal $47.3m (£35.5m).
- Sotheby's described Jodi as an "excellent exhibition-ready" skeleton with about 191 fossil-bone elements and a "beautifully preserved, virtually complete skull".
- The rare skeleton of a Nanotyrannus — recently confirmed to be a distant cousin of Tyrannosaurus rex, not just a young specimen — sold for $47.3 million to a mystery buyer at auction in New York City on Tuesday, according to Sotheby’s.
- Jodi, a mounted Nanotyrannus skeleton, of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 67 million years ago, estimated at $6 - 9 million, is displayed at Sotheby's, Tuesday, Oct.
- The new owner of “Jodi” has, for now, chosen to remain anonymous after outbidding five other prospective buyers online and by phone during the roughly 12-minute live auction, Sotheby’s said.
- The price tag for “Jodi,” as the skeleton is nicknamed, makes it the second-priciest set of dinosaur bones ever sold.
What's still developing
- “We’ve really just found out that Nanotyrannus is real, and now one of the best skeletons is about to be sold to the highest bidder,” said Steve Brusatte, a professor of paleontology and evolution at Scotland’s University of Edinburgh, in an email.
- Further evidence that dinosaurs are reaching collectors beyond the traditional fossil market came with “Trey,” a Triceratops skeleton dating back more than 66 million years to the Late Cretaceous.
- A Nanotyrannus was about half the length of a full-grown T.
- Only recently have researchers increasingly come to favor the view that Nanotyrannus was a separate species rather than a juvenile T.
- It features two skeletons apparently locked in combat — a Triceratops and a smaller tyrannosaur, now identified as a Nanotyrannus.
- “For decades, scientists have wrestled with a fundamental question: was Nanotyrannus simply an adolescent T. rex, or did it represent an entirely different genus of dinosaur?” she said in the release, which was emailed to IFLScience.