Stegosaurus skeleton to fetch millions at New York auction
The Peninsula
New York: The largest stegosaurus skeleton ever found is expected to fetch millions of dollars at auction in New York next week, likely fueling object...
New York: The largest stegosaurus skeleton ever found is expected to fetch millions of dollars at auction in New York next week, likely fueling objections from paleontologists.
The fossil, estimated to be approximately 150 million years old, was put on display at Sotheby's on Wednesday and will be exhibited there until its sale on July 17.
Named Apex, the giant skeleton -- 11 feet (3.3 meters) tall and nearly 27 feet long -- is billed as "the most complete and best-preserved" stegosaurus specimen of its size, counting 254 fossil bone elements of an approximate total of 319.
Such sales have become more frequent in recent years, drawing criticism from paleontologists, who say that these finds should be preserved in museums or other public spaces and not sold to private bidders.
"It's a very, very rare animal, and to find one of this size and this completeness is phenomenal," Cassandra Hatton, head of science and popular culture at Sotheby's, told AFP.