New York Auction to Sell 161-Million-Year-Old Stegosaurus Skeleton

July 12th, 6:28 AM EDT

By NEWSnet Digital Team

People look at a virtually complete Stegosaurus fossil on display at Sotheby’s on July 10, 2024 in New York City. '

Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

NEW YORK (NEWSnet/AP) — The nearly complete fossilized remains of a 161-million-year-old stegosaurus discovered in Colorado in 2022 will be auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York next week, auction house officials said.

The dinosaur that Sotheby’s calls Apex stands 11 feet tall and measures 27 feet nose to tail, according to Sotheby’s global head of science and popular culture.

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The stegosaurus is one of the world’s most recognizable dinosaurs due to its distinctive dorsal plates.

Apex was discovered in May 2022 on private land near the town of Dinosaur, Colorado. 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.

The dinosaur will be auctioned on July 17 as part of Sotheby’s “Geek Week” series.

Sotheby’s is estimating that it will sell for $4 million to $6 million, but that’s just an educated guess.

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