A rare skeleton of Nanotyrannus, a smaller relative of Tyrannosaurus rex, has sold for $47.3 million to an anonymous buyer at Sotheby's in New York, according to an Associated Press report carried by ABC News.
The auction house had estimated a price of $6 million to $9 million. The sale makes the specimen, nicknamed Jodi, the second most expensive set of dinosaur bones ever sold, behind a T. rex called Gus that fetched $50.1 million at Sotheby's this summer. Six bidders competed during an auction of about 12 minutes.
Jodi is one of only three known Nanotyrannus skeletons, stands about 2 metres tall and is around 70 per cent complete. It is named after the Montana rancher who found it on her land in 2019. Some scientists object to such private sales, arguing that important fossils belong in museums where researchers can study them.
Source: ABC News
