"If It's Sold, It's Lost to Science"... Academic Community Pushes Back Against Big-Money Dinosaur Fossil Auctions

Tyrannosaurus "Gus" Sold for 74.6 Billion Won
Breaks Record, Surpassing "Apex" in 2024
"Museums and Universities Can't Even Name a Price"

As the Tyrannosaurus dinosaur fossil "Gus" achieved a record-high auction price, the scientific community is issuing repeated warnings about the trend of treating fossils as symbols of wealth and status. With the market seeing single fossils selling for tens of billions of won, museums and universities are increasingly unable to afford such prices.

On the 1st (local time), a Tyrannosaurus fossil named 'Gus' at the Sotheby's auction house in New York City, USA. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

Yonhap News reported on the 14th (local time), citing the UK daily The Guardian, that "paleontologists have expressed concerns about the spread of fossil auctions." Richard Butler, professor of vertebrate paleontology at the University of Birmingham, told The Guardian, "The idea of purchasing dinosaur fossils as status symbols or commodities is highly concerning," adding, "Fossils are being sold at prices museums cannot afford, causing great harm to science."

Stephen Brusatte, professor at the University of Edinburgh, pointed out that the hammer price itself excludes research institutions. He said, "Auctions are legal, but as a scientist, I am worried," and continued, "If dinosaur fossils are auctioned off for tens of millions of dollars, there is little that scientists, museums, or universities can do. Such prices can only be managed by the extremely wealthy."

Museums now rely on loans and donations from private collectors. In 2024, hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin, who won the bid for the Stegosaurus "Apex," loaned the fossil to the American Museum of Natural History in New York for four years. Last year, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife donated a Pachycephalosaurus skull, which they purchased for 1.7 million dollars (about 2.5 billion won), to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

However, Susannah Maidment, dinosaur researcher at the Natural History Museum in London, noted, "Many leading scientific journals refuse to publish research on privately owned specimens," explaining, "This is because there is no guarantee that another researcher will be able to re-examine the same specimen decades from now." Thomas Carr, associate professor of paleontology at Carthage College in Wisconsin, also voiced concerns: "Privately owned fossils can be reclaimed by the owner from the museum at any time," he said. "Researchers must always have access to fossils for study, but this cannot be guaranteed for private collections."

Dinosaur fossil image from the museum to aid article understanding. Pixabay

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) in the United States issued a statement immediately after the hammer fell for "Gus," urging for its donation. Kristi Curry Rogers, the incoming president of SVP, said, "We hope the new owner will recognize Gus's scientific and educational value and immediately donate it to an accredited natural history museum, placing it under a public trust," adding, "Only then can the specimen continue to contribute to science and not be excluded from research." Current president Stuart Sumida said in an interview with CNN before the auction, "Once something is sold, it is generally lost to science."

The fossil highlighted by the scientific community, "Gus," was sold at Sotheby's in New York that day for 50.1 million dollars (about 74.6 billion won), setting a new all-time high for dinosaur fossil auctions. This amount far exceeded the estimated pre-auction price of 20 million to 30 million dollars. After a 10-minute bidding contest involving seven bidders, an anonymous person participating via phone won the auction. Standing 3.8 meters tall and 11.5 meters long, Gus consists of 183 bones, preserving over 60% of the skeleton. Among the 32 known Tyrannosaurus specimens, only three—including Gus—have a completeness rate exceeding 60%.

The price of dinosaur fossils at auction has soared sharply in recent years. In 2020, the Tyrannosaurus "Stan" was sold at Christie's for 31.8 million dollars (about 47.4 billion won). In 2024, the Stegosaurus "Apex" set a new record, selling for 44.6 million dollars (about 66.4 billion won). Last year at Sotheby's, a juvenile Ceratosaurus skeleton reached 30.5 million dollars (about 45.4 billion won), five times the upper estimate, and in March this year, the Triceratops "Trey" was transacted for 5.55 million dollars (about 8.3 billion won) on online auction platform Jupiter.

Sotheby's maintains that commercial excavations actually help save fossils. Cassandra Hatton, Vice Chairman at Sotheby's, countered last May with the argument, "If it weren't for commercial excavation teams, quite a few fossils would remain buried underground."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.