65 Million Years Later, the T-Rex Is Still King of the Dinosaurs After Record-Breaking Fossil Sale
Tens of millions of years after it last stalked the Earth, the Tyrannosaurus Rex has once again taken its position at the top of the dinosaur food chain. This is not a real-life Jurassic Park incident, but a recent Sotheby’s auction that saw one of the most complete T-Rex skeletons in existence go under the hammer for a record-breaking amount.
Nicknamed “Gus,” the skeleton is a specimen worthy of the attention it attracted. Standing around 12.5 feet tall and measuring over 38 feet long, this is one of the largest tyrannosaur fossils ever unearthed. Consisting of 183 individual bones, Gus is also among the most complete T-Rex skeletons that currently exists, with about 61% of its bones present. This amounts to around 75% of the bone mass that would make up the entire skeleton – not an insignificant amount considering we are talking about a 65-million-year-old fossil.
This kind of fossil does not come up for sale very often and that makes auctions for such items a fraught affair. The auction of Gus lasted almost 10 minutes, with seven buyers battling it out to put their name on this incredible specimen. The final hammer price of $43 million was enough to break the record for the most expensive fossil sold at auction once buyer’s fees pushed that up to $50.1 million.
In the last decade, there have been several other sales that have pushed auctions to similar levels. The T-Rex “Stan,” sold for $31.8 million back in 2020, a Stegosaurus called “Apex,” was the previous record holder at $44.6 million in 2024, and a juvenile Ceratosaurus ended on $30.5 million last year.
Pre-sale estimates put the fossil at around $20–30 million, and Gus did not disappoint. For now, the buyer of Gus, who placed bids by phone, has chosen to remain anonymous. However, a 38-foot T-Rex skeleton is not something that can be easily hidden away, and at some point, the new owner will likely be revealed, along with whether it finds a place in a collection or on display.
This Dinosaur Skeleton Is One of the Most Significant Discoveries
Gus certainly deserves to be seen by the world. The skeleton was found at the Hell Creek Formation in Harding County, South Dakota, and was painstakingly excavated from the rock and dust across three “field seasons” starting in 2021. After being taken from the earth, it then underwent extensive cleaning and assembly work to produce the magnificent specimen it is today.
One sad note in the history of Gus is the origin of its name. The skeleton was named after Gary “Gus” Licking, the rancher who owned the land on which the bones were discovered. Having spent years finding teeth and bone fragments himself, Licking enlisted professional fossil hunter Thomas Heitkamp to finally discover exactly what lay beneath the hard ground. Unfortunately, just a year after work began on the dig, and long before the extent of the discovery was known, Licking passed away. His contribution to the world of fossils is now forever marked in history.
While collectible auctions are always full of rare items that, as Indiana Jones might say, “belong in a museum,” few attract the kind of debate that significant fossils do. Many palaeontologists have spoken out against scientific pieces like this being bought by private buyers and “lost” in a vaulted collection where they cannot be researched or accessed by the public. Museums, they argue, are increasingly being priced out of these auctions by billionaires who simply want to put their name on something no one else owns.
Hopefully, the new owner of Gus will follow the route Apex’s buyer took, allowing the fossil to go on long-term loan to a museum so it can be appreciated by the many people out there with a huge interest in the creatures that once dominated the planet. Whatever happens, the sale of Gus has once again cemented the undeniable fact that, when it comes to prehistoric beasts, the Tyrannosaurus will always be king.
(featured image: Universal)
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