{"id":139050,"date":"2026-07-14T13:50:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T19:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mystery-winner-buys-t-rex-nicknamed-gus-for-a-record-50-million-at-auction\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T13:52:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T19:52:17","slug":"mystery-winner-buys-t-rex-nicknamed-gus-for-a-record-50-million-at-auction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mystery-winner-buys-t-rex-nicknamed-gus-for-a-record-50-million-at-auction\/","title":{"rendered":"Mystery bidder buys T. rex nicknamed ‘Gus’ for a record $50 million"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"This
This undated photo provided by Sotheby's on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, shows "Gus," one of the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex specimens ever discovered. (Matthew Sherman\/Sotheby's via AP)<\/span>(Matthew Sherman\/Sotheby's via AP)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 A Tyrannosaurus rex fossil billed as one of the world’s largest and most complete specimens sold for a record $50.1 million Tuesday to a mystery bidder.<\/p>\n

Sotheby’s said the 67-million-year-old fossil, nicknamed \u201cGus,\u201d is now the most expensive<\/a> set of dinosaur bones ever auctioned off, besting the almost $45 million price tag<\/a> for a nearly complete stegosaurus sold by the same New York auction house in 2024. The previous record holder had been a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton nicknamed \u201cStan\u201d<\/a> that sold for nearly $32 million in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cGus is not only an exceptional find, but a specimen that\u2019s been excavated, documented, prepared, and cared for with real excellence,\u201d Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby\u2019s vice chair, said after the sale was completed. \u201cThe market responds when great specimens are taken care of in the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why the bidding for this T. rex was intense<\/strong><\/p>\n

Standing upright with its tail extended and right foot slightly raised, \u201cGus\u201d is an adult dinosaur specimen measuring about 12 \u00bd feet (3.8 meters) tall and 38 feet (11.5 meters) long.<\/p>\n

He’s about 61% complete, with what Sotheby’s describes as an \u201cexceptionally preserved\u201d skull including a gaping jaw of powerful teeth, two \u201cwell represented\u201d feet and a number of rarely found bones, including a furcula, or wishbone.<\/p>\n

The fossil was discovered in 2021 on a ranch in South Dakota and named in honor of property owner Gary Licking, who died during the roughly five year excavation, restoration and mounting process.<\/p>\n

The auction house said the winner, who participated by phone and wants to remain anonymous, outbid six other prospective buyers during Tuesday’s 10-minute bidding battle. The piece had been estimated to fetch anywhere from $20 to $30 million ahead of the sale.<\/p>\n

\u201cTry a bigger bite,\u201d auctioneer Phyllis Kao cajoled the bidders at one point during the auction, which was conducted live and online. \u201cIt\u2019s a T. rex, after all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scientists want \u2018Gus\u2019 on public display<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, an advocacy group of scientists, scholars and students, said scientifically significant fossils such as \u201cGus\u201d should be publicly displayed in museums and other research institutions so that they can be \u201cpreserved, documented, and accessible for future generations.”<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hope is that the new owner recognizes the extraordinary scientific and educational value of Gus the T. rex and that they aim to keep it in the public trust by immediately donating it to an accredited natural history museum,\u201d Kristi Curry Rogers, the society’s president-elect, said in a statement Tuesday. \u201cThat outcome would ensure that this remarkable specimen continues to advance science, rather than becoming unavailable for study.”<\/p>\n

Indeed, \u201cApex,\u201d the stegosaurus, the previous dinosaur fossil record-holder, is currently on long-term loan to the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. \u201cSue\u201d the T. rex, the first dinosaur ever sold at auction in 1997, also by Sotheby’s, is a centerpiece of the Field Museum in Chicago.<\/p>\n

And \u201cStan\u201d is on display at the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, posed in combat<\/a> with another fossilized T. rex over the remains of a triceratops.<\/p>\n

A Cretaceous king and Hollywood staple<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tyrannosaurus rex, whose name roughly translates to \u201cKing of the Tyrant Lizards,\u201d stood firmly at the top of the food chain when it ruled during the late Cretaceous period.<\/p>\n

With its fearsome jawline and comically stubby arms, it has become the most recognizable and beloved of the dinosaurs, depicted in everything from children\u2019s programs like Barney, the purple T. rex, to the enduring \u201cJurassic Park\u201d movie franchise.<\/p>\n

The great beasts roamed what is today western North America, during a time when the region boasted \u201cwarm climates, high sea levels, and rich coastal floodplains\u201d that allowed their primary prey, giant herbivores like the triceratops, to flourish, according to Sotheby\u2019s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This undated photo provided by Sotheby's on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, shows "Gus," one of the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex specimens ever discovered. (Matthew Sherman\/Sotheby's via AP)(Matthew Sherman\/Sotheby's via AP) NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 A Tyrannosaurus rex fossil billed as one of the world’s largest and most complete specimens sold for a record […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5734],"tags":[],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-139050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-associated-press"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139050"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139069,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139050\/revisions\/139069"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139050"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=139050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}