Leaders | Cretaceous capitalism

Trade in dinosaur fossils is good for science

The market for specimens should be regulated, not banned

An entire T. rex skeleton has sold for 5.55 million Swiss francs ($6.2 million USD, £5 million GBP) as only third of its kind to ever go up for auction - and the first ever in Europe., The approximately 67-million-year-old TRX-293 TRINITY Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton is “among the finest specimens of one of the largest terrestrial predators ever to inhabit the Earth”, according to Koller Auctions., It measures in at 11.6 metres (38 feet) long and a towering 3.9 metres (12.8 feet) high., Koller says it is only the third time worldwide a full T. rex skeleton of such quality has gone under the hammer., The skeleton was bought by a unnamed private collector and will remain in Europe, although it is not yet clear if it will go on public display., The sale price - which includes the buyer’s premium and fees - failed to reach the high estimate of CHF5-8 million (Swiss Franc) ($5.37 million-$8.6 million USD), possibly because it is a composite., It is named "293 Trinity", because it is built from three different T. rexes from US dinosaur sites in Montana and Wyoming., Before the auction, Zurich-based Koller said: “Trinity is one of the most spectacular T. rex skeletons in existence, a well-preserved and brilliantly restored fossil.”, It added: “Mounted in a dynamic, scientifically accurate and modern pose, it is among the finest specimens of one of the largest terrestrial predators ever to inhabit the Earth.”, The more than 50 per cent original bone material comes from three Tyrannosaurus specimens excavated between 2008 and 2013, from the Hell Creek and Lance Creek formations in Montana and Wyoming., Both sites are known for two of the most important Tyrannosaurus discoveries - “Sue”, which sold at auction for $8.4 million in 1997 and “Stan”, whose world-record hammer price of $31.8 million in 2020 catapulted dinosaur fossil prices into a realm usually reserved for the most sought-after works of art., According to the April 2021 scientific journal nat
Image: Mega

The great auction houses of America and Europe often sell masterpieces by long-dead artists to a grey-haired crowd. They also serve the booming demand for actual fossils. In 2020 Christie’s sold “Stan”—one of the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex specimens ever discovered—for a record-breaking $31.8m. In April “Trinity”, a composite of three T. rex specimens, fetched $6.1m at the Koller auction house in Zurich—one of six dino-lots to have breached the $6m threshold since “Stan” was sold. At the end of July Sotheby’s is due to auction off another nearly complete specimen.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Cretaceous capitalism”

Leaders May 20th 2023

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