A Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton known as Gus is scheduled to be auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York, raising fresh concerns among paleontologists that an important fossil could become inaccessible to research. Discovered in 2021 on private land in South Dakota’s Hell Creek Formation, Gus was named for rancher Gary “Gus” Licking, who died before the excavation was completed.
Sotheby’s describes the skeleton as 38 feet long and 12.5 feet tall, with 183 fossil bone elements. The auction house says it is about 61% complete by bone count and includes a skull with roughly 82% of its original bones represented. It also says the fossil preserves evidence of injuries the animal survived, including fractures and a large bite mark on the skull that it says may have resulted from a confrontation. Those observations have not been published in a formal scientific study, and the available evidence does not establish that the marks record a fatal attack or the animal’s final moments.
Sotheby’s has placed a presale estimate of up to $30 million on Gus. The estimate follows rising prices for major dinosaur specimens: the T. rex Stan sold for $31.8 million in 2020, while Apex, a Stegosaurus, sold for $44.6 million in 2024. Sotheby’s says commercial excavators make recoveries possible that might otherwise be lost to erosion and that it hopes Gus will ultimately be publicly displayed.
Researchers including Stuart Sumida of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology and Susannah Maidment of London’s Natural History Museum argue that private ownership can prevent the repeatable access required for formal study. The society requires its members to work on specimens in publicly accessible collections, while Maidment said museums are increasingly unable to compete at auction prices. Fossils may be loaned to museums by private owners, but researchers say a loan does not guarantee lasting access to the original material.
