By Zachary Small and Julia Jacobs
The priciest dinosaur fossil ever auctioned, a stegosaurus purchased by billionaire Kenneth Griffin this summer for $44.6 million, has found its new residence: the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
Earlier this month, the museum declared it would host the coveted stegosaurus, as part of a four-year loan agreement with Griffin.
“It’s one of those dinosaurs that every child is familiar with when it comes to drawing,” Sean M. Decatur, the museum’s president, remarked in an interview prior to the dinosaur’s unveiling this week. “This presents a unique chance to showcase something that resonates with the public’s image of dinosaurs while also serving as a significant specimen for research purposes.”
The mounted stegosaurus made its entrance from behind a flowing beige curtain on Thursday morning before reporters, photographers, museum staff, and a group of elementary school students. It is set to be displayed to the public on Sunday, following complete preparation for exhibition.
The Sotheby’s auction of the remarkably intact specimen — referred to as Apex — set new records in the thriving fossil market. It also crowned a new champion of the dinosaur realm, at least in auction circles: The stegosaurus has replaced the Tyrannosaurus rex as the former titleholder.
However, the auction has raised alarms among academic paleontologists, who fear that museums and universities might be edged out of their research endeavors by affluent private collectors. After acquiring the stegosaurus, Griffin, founder and CEO of hedge fund Citadel, expressed his intention to lend the specimen to an American institution, ensuring its availability to both scientists and the public.
In a statement regarding the museum loan, Griffin expressed, “I am thankful that millions of visitors and researchers will now have the chance to see and study this magnificent specimen from the late Jurassic period.”
Griffin’s loan entails financial support for the research and documentation of the specimen, including 3D imaging of the fossilized bones, which the museum plans to make available to researchers.
Nevertheless, it remains uncertain how the broader scientific community will evaluate the plans for Apex. Some paleontologists have previously voiced concerns about conducting research on privately owned specimens due to the uncertainty of future accessibility for researchers.
Stuart Sumida, president of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, stated that “we currently have an internal ethics committee that is addressing the issue.”
He indicated that the committee would offer guidance on managing loaned fossils like Apex in early spring. “This presents a new gray area for us,” he noted.
The commercial fossil market has been gaining traction for years. In 2020, the sale of a T. rex skeleton named Stan, which fetched a record $31.8 million, triggered a rush for dinosaur fossils in the American West. Stan ultimately found a home in a natural history museum being established in Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s capital.
Apex gained fame as one of the world’s most renowned dinosaurs in July when it eclipsed Stan’s auction price. Sotheby’s had projected the stegosaurus would fetch between $4 million and $6 million; however, a bidding war ensued, and Apex sold for over ten times the low estimate, astounding the paleontological community.
Keen to showcase the celebrity dinosaur, the American Museum of Natural History approached Griffin, a key benefactor, to ascertain whether he had settled on a display location for the fossil during the summer. “We were thrilled to find out that no decision had been made yet,” Decatur mentioned.
Approximately the size of an elephant, Apex was discreetly unloaded from wooden crates and assembled this week in relative obscurity inside the museum’s Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation.
The spiky-tailed, plate-backed herbivore is believed to have roamed the Earth about 150 million years ago in present-day Colorado.
Standing at 11 feet tall and stretching over 20 feet long, it might not be the largest specimen to grace the museum, but officials anticipate that its iconic silhouette will attract visitors to its exhibits and gift shop, while also providing significant data for researchers.
“We aim to determine how it develops,” stated Roger Benson, a curator of paleontology at the museum, who plans to investigate a 10-centimeter slice from the dinosaur’s femur, hoping it will aid in understanding stegosaurus growth patterns and biology.
The loan agreement with the American Museum of Natural History will enable scientists to document the specimen by generating 3D scans of the skeleton. The museum also intends to create a replica cast of Apex for display after the loan concludes and the actual fossil is moved.
Benson emphasized that the capacity to disseminate the data was a critical component of the loan. “I believed we couldn’t proceed with this project without the ability to share the 3D data with researchers,” he remarked.
The museum had received a “stated commitment” from Griffin that his goal was to ensure the specimen remains accessible to researchers, Benson added.
New York marks a significant milestone for the stegosaurus, originally uncovered by commercial paleontologist Jason Cooper in 2022 on his land near the town of Dinosaur, Colorado.
Paleontologists recognize that the specimen may not wield the same public fascination as the T. rex, yet it remains embedded in popular culture, partly due to its appearances in franchises like “Jurassic Park” and “The Land Before Time.”
Benson noted that he considers Apex scientifically significant, partly due to its larger size compared to other specimens and its completeness; according to the museum, Apex includes about 254 fossil bone elements out of an estimated total of 320.
Cassandra Hatton, a Sotheby’s executive involved in orchestrating the auction, remarked that Apex exceeded its estimate because potential buyers like Griffin were well aware of its provenance. In this instance, the auction house had been part of the process since the dinosaur’s discovery.
“Apex was freshly excavated, offered with complete rights,” Hatton explained. “And buyers were approaching me asking for transparency in the market.”
Griffin’s decision to lend the stegosaurus to the American Museum of Natural History was somewhat unexpected, considering his name is already associated with dinosaur exhibits at the Field Museum in Chicago. Although Griffin has supported scientific initiatives at the American Museum of Natural History, this marks his first collaboration with its paleontology division.
Until next fall, Apex will be positioned near the entrance of the Gilder Center within an atrium named in Griffin’s honor for his prior donations. Afterwards, the specimen will be relocated to a more permanent spot on the fourth floor, where it will greet visitors entering the museum’s fossil halls.
Benson, the museum’s paleontologist, expressed that he views the loan as an opportunity to bridge the divide between commercial and academic paleontology for the advancement of science. “To me, it seems crucial to attempt to create connections and maximize the scientific opportunity,” he stated.
