The nearly complete fossilized remains of a 161-million-year-old stegosaurus discovered in Colorado in 2022 will be auctioned by in New York next week, auction house officials said.
The dinosaur that Sotheby's calls Apex stands 11 feet (3.3 metres) tall and measures 27 feet (8.2 metres) nose to tail, according to Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby's global head of science and popular culture.
The stegosaurus, with its distinctive pointy dorsal plates, is one of the world's most recognizable dinosaurs.
Apex, which Hatton called 鈥渁 colouring book dinosaur," was discovered in May 2022 on private land near the town of . The excavation was completed in October 2023, Sotheby's said.
Though experts believe stegosauruses used their fearsome tail spikes to fight, this specimen shows no signs of combat, Sotheby's said. The fossil does show evidence of arthritis, suggesting that Apex lived to an advanced age.
Hatton said Apex was found 鈥渨ith the tail curled up underneath the body, which is a common death pose for animals.鈥�
The dinosaur will be auctioned on July 17 as part of Sotheby's series.
Sotheby's is estimating that it will sell for US$4 million to US$6 million, but that's just an educated guess.
鈥淭his is an incredibly rare animal,鈥� Hatton said. 鈥淎 stegosaurus of this caliber has never sold at auction before, so we will find out what it is actually worth.鈥�
