In October 2020, the fossil of a Tyrannosaurus rex specimen was auctioned off. An anonymous buyer paid 31,847,500 dollars for it, about 28 million euros at that time. Since then, the scientific world has lost track of one of the best preserved fossils of the most famous species of dinosaur. This fossil known by the name of Stan, appeared a few months ago in a press release by which we learned that it will be part of the collection of the Abu Dhabi Museum of Natural History.
discovery of the fossil
The fossilized remains of Tyrannosaurus rex always fascinate us. Even more so when we are lucky enough to find a fossil so well preserved that its reconstruction allows us to see an almost complete skeleton of one of the largest predators in the history of our planet.
The Stan fossil is named after Stan Sacrison , a paleontologist who found the hip bones in Hell Creek, a paleontological site in South Dakota, in 1987. The first impressions were wrong, since they considered that the remains found belonged to Triceratops , a species also famous among dinosaurs but with a broader fossil record. So the find was ignored.
Five years later, in 1992, Stan Sacrison refused to let go of the fossil he had found and contacted the Black Hills Geological Research Institute. It was then that the fossil was “rediscovered” as the remains of Tyrannosaurus rex .
The traveling fossil
A year of excavation was required to extract what turned out to be one of the best-preserved fossils of Tyrannosaurus rex . Since then, Stan has had his particular journey passing through various hands and stays.
At first he traveled to Japan to be exhibited. Since 1996 it has been in the Black Hills Institute museum for more than two decades . This South Dakota institution often sells fossils and fossil replicas to museums and private buyers. In fact, one of these replicas made by the Black Hills Geological Research and Paleontological Excavations Institute (BHI) was acquired by actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson . In a direct made for a sports program, the actor appeared in his house and, behind him, the skull of a dinosaur that Johnson referred to as Stan. A certain stir arose among the scientific community, thinking that “The Rock” had been the anonymous buyer of the fossil. But the actor denied the information on his Instagram profile, where he uploaded a photo of the skull saying that it was a replica of the original fossil.
The IHB had no plans to sell the fossil, but after a disagreement the owners went to court and Stan became an object for sale in 2018. Between 16 September and 21 October 2020, Stan was on display at the Christie’s offices , between 48th and 49th streets in Manhattan, New York. Since its sale to an anonymous buyer for $31.8 million, the fossil has remained unaccounted for.
However, on March 23, 2022, the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism issued a press release announcing that the Tyrannosaurus rex fossil will be exhibited at the Natural History Museum scheduled to open in 2025 , in which:
“Visitors will take a 13.8 billion year journey through time and space, including a thought-provoking perspective on a sustainable future for planet Earth.”
A unique Tyrannosaurus rex fossil
The sale of the fossil quintupled its price. The auction started from an estimated price between 6 and 8 million dollars. But the attractive fossil triggered the bid and the auction lasted for 15 minutes until it exceeded a price of 30 million. A record that places Stan as the most expensive fossil in the world to date.
It far exceeded the $8.36 million paid for Sue , the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex specimen on display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
Stan’s skeleton is made up of 188 bones out of an estimated 300 that would make up a complete specimen. The fossil has been dated to 67 million years old, is 4 meters tall and almost 12 meters from the head to the end of its tail .
A controversial sale
The exorbitant prices paid for this type of piece generate some rejection among the scientific community . It is a piece that should be at the service of research, so these prices are incompatible for the majority of public institutions dedicated to scientific knowledge, in addition to promoting the illegal business of fossils as they are discovered as an important economic gold mine.
Actor Dwayne Johnson himself, a self-confessed fan of dinosaurs, said in his publication that if he were the proud owner of Stan he would not have it in his office, but would deposit it in a museum, “so that the world could enjoy, study and learn from him.” Luckily, the specimen will go to a museum, where it can continue to be investigated and generate knowledge about the age of the dinosaurs.
Pete Larson, president of the Black Hills Institute, was pleased with the new location where Stan will be exhibited:
“It’s like the one from Indiana Jones: ‘This belongs in a museum! We were able to salvage Stan’s data by doing 3D scans [and] making all these multiple casts of Stan’s skull and skeleton… Now the original is also going to be available for research again, which is tremendously impressive.
References:
Comunicado de prensa. 2022. Abu Dhabi Unveils New Home for Natural History with a Collection to Inspire the World. tcaabudhabi.ae.
2022. The most expensive Tyrannosaurus rex in the world will be exhibited in Abu Dhabi. elconfidencial.com.
Greshko, M. 2022. T. Rex ‘Stan’, the world’s most expensive fossil, found with a new home. nationalgeographic.es.
