Stegosaurus sells for almost $45 million at Sotheby's auction, the most for any dinosaur fossil

Sotheby's has auctioned off the skeleton of a stegosaurus named Apex, billed as "the finest for Stegosaurus to ever come to market," for almost $45 million, a record.

The sale price far exceeds the estimate of $4 million to $6 million that Sotheby's had assigned to the lot. Described as a mounted Stegosaurus skeleton, the exact sale price was $44.6 million, surpassing earlier sales records for dinosaur fossils. 

Sotheby's, which said the auction closed Wednesday morning, did not immediately disclose the buyer's identity.