Some of Stan’s wounds appear to have partially healed before the animal died, at an estimated age of 20. Stan’s skull is particularly well-preserved, and contains puncture wounds that suggest the animal tousled with other tyrannosaurs. Its skeletal features suggest that it was a male.īecause of the dinosaur’s exceptional condition, casts of Stan have ended up at dozens of museums around the world. The specimen contains 188 bones, representing about 70 percent of the full skeleton. Measuring some 40 feet in length and 13 feet tall, Stan is among the most complete T. The specimen was put on sale at the request of a 2018 court resolution between the museum shareholders, who are brothers. rex have been on display at the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in Hill City, South Dakota. For decades, the remains of the iconic T. Stan was discovered in 1987 by its namesake, amateur paleontologist Stan Sacrison, at Hell Creek Formation in South Dakota. “It’s an incredibly rare event when a great one is found.” rexes like this coming to market,” he said. James Hyslop, head of Christie’s science & natural history department, called the opportunity to buy Stan “a once-in-a-generation chance” in a statement. The listing is averaging 116 views an hour on eBay.Stan, also known as Lot 59, was expected to attract a price comparable to Sue, but the bidding war blew past the $6-8 million guide price within minutes and ended up at $27.5 million, with a few million more tacked on for commission fees and other costs. Now, he contends, he deserves to be compensated.ĭetrich has yet to receive an offer but says he's heard from prospects all over the world and that some people have even asked about shipping costs. He said he's given scientists and the public ample access to the T. Without him, he said, the skeleton would still be buried beneath the dirt, hidden and anonymous. "I dare suggest that a privately-owned fossil of any scientific significance is cared-for better than one in the public trust."ĭetrich bristles at the suggestion that he's only interested in money and has no respect for history. "Specimens are borrowed and never returned, specimens are stolen, lost through a variety of means including laziness and incompetence," Triebold said. He also refuted the idea that specimens should be kept in the public trust. Michael Triebold, who has been commercially collecting fossils for more than 30 years, said that museums often depend on companies like his for their exhibits. "Each one that is lost from the public trust, is part of that already fragmentary history that we will never collectively recover."īut many professional fossil sellers reject the idea that specimens in private hands are lost to science. "That fossils like this are evidence of Earth's deep past is what makes them valuable, unlike art objects or other items of trade whose value comes from human creativity and artistry," the letter said. rex, highlighting that the price tag would likely ensure the specimen ended up with a private owner, robbing scientists and the public of the chance to learn from it further. The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology wrote an open letter decrying the sale of the baby T. The move also drew criticism from the broader academic and scientific communities. In a statement, museum Director Leonard Krishtalka also said Detrich had been asked to remove references to the university from the listing. Ap/ 1:35 PM / AP Nearly 300 Tyrannosaurus rex bones that were dug up from three sites in the United States and assembled into a single skeleton sold Tuesday at an auction in. rex skeleton measuring 11.6 meters long (38 feet long) and 3. The museum was quick to clarify that it was not involved in the sale, and that the fossil was being removed and returned to Detrich. Nearly 300 Tyrannosaurus rex bones that were dug up from three sites in the United States and assembled into a single skeleton sold at Tuesday at a Switzerland auction for 4.8 million francs (5.3 million), below the expected price. His first post emphasised the fossil's prominent display at the school as a key selling point. He said he thought the public ought to see it.īut last week, without warning the university, he listed the T. rex - he decided to lend it to the Natural History Museum at the University of Kansas, near his home in Lawrence, in 2017. Once experts helped Detrich understand what he had - the bones of a 4-year-old T. Cage famously had to give up a Tyrannosaurus bataar skull he'd outbid DiCaprio for in 2007 because it may have been illegally smuggled out of Mongolia. Most fossil-rich counties, such as China and Mongolia, have strict laws surrounding the collection and sale of fossils. In the US, fossils found on private land belong to whomever digs them up. rex on private land he'd leased in Jordan, Montana, in 2013. Detrich, 71, who is not a paleontologist, discovered the T.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |