The most expensive fossil of a dinosaur worth 40 million euros

The American Natural Park in New York is one of the largest and most famous museums of this kind in the world, so it is almost a necessary stop when visiting the city. Collections of a museum founded in 1869 contain 32 million specimens of plants, animals, fungi, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human residues and cultural artifacts, as well as specialized collections of frozen tissues and genomic and astrophysical data. Since the end of last year, the most expensive fossil of a dinosaur named Apex has been on display at the museum.

Apex photo: Sasha Senica

The fossil of the 150 million -year -old adult stegosaur is considered one of the most complete specimens of the herbivorous dinosaur so far, with almost 80 percent of the skeleton preserved: as many as 254 bones have been found, including many armored plates on the back, from a total of 319, as many as an adult animal. The missing parts were filled with 3D-tapped or carved components. Stegosaurs lived in the territory of North America and Europe when they were still part of the supercontinent of Lavraz.

The skeleton was discovered two years ago by a paleontologist Jason Cooper In Morrison, Colorado, a place known to the fossils. Last year, Apex was auctioned, seven buyers competed for him, in the end the billionaire won Kenneth Griffinfounder and executive director of the Hedge Fund Citadel, and deducted a record 40.8 million euros.

Griffin lent a valuable skeleton for four years to see the visitors’ trumps and explore the researchers there. In addition, he supported a three-year postdoctoral survey, in which they will examine more precisely the growth and development of the skeleton, and researchers will, among other things, produce three-dimensional digital bone digital models to analyze internal structures, and use all other data from museum collections and other similar institutions for the research.

Researchers hope that the new fossil will help answer questions about the biology of the iconic dinosaur. Paleontologists believe that longer spines on the tail were used to defend against predators, but they still do not understand the function of the most pronounced characteristics of this herbivore, namely the types of plates along the spine. From the first discovery of the Stegosaurus in the 19th century, this remains a puzzle: the proposed solutions range from fever, ornaments for shopping during mating to a self -defense aid.

Apex is three meters high and a half meters high and 8.2 meters long. It is the biggest discovered specimen so far, for a third, the skeleton is larger than the rest of them. It is especially worth a lot for researchers that the dinosaur has reached the late age, as they will thus be able to examine the growth rate throughout their lifespan. It is estimated that he has died natural deaths because there are no visible predatory traces on the fossil. Only on the shoulder blade does it have a stab scar, which is embedded in a snippet of the bone from its own tail. They think he had strived for himself, perhaps during his rest when he rolled into a hat.

More and more fossils at auction

Dinosaur fossils have found themselves auctioned several times in the recent period, which is not a contract for researchers, fearing that they will be driven by research on important specimens. Before Apex, Stan, a fossil of Rex tyrannosaur, was considered the most expensive fossil, which was auctioned in 2020 for just under € 30 million. The buyer was anonymous at the time, now it is clear that Stan will have his home in the new Natural History Museum in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, which will be opened this year.

Apex will be on display at the New York Natural History Museum for four years, during which time they will produce a cast to show it after the rental. It is now erected on the ground floor of the museum and will later be moved to the fourth floor, which is entirely dedicated to paleontology. Many of the exhibited fossils are unique and historical specimens gathered in the Golden Age of the Museum’s World Remptions between 1880 and 1930.

Among the exhibited dinosaurs is the tyrannosaur Rex, which consists of the remains of two such dinosaurs. A stunning view of the skeleton of the sub -herbivorous Zavropode is stunning. Patagotital Mayorum It weighed about 70 tonnes, living in the forests of today’s Patagonia about 100 to 95 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous period. He is one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered. The skeleton, six and 37 meters long, is too big for one hall so that the neck and head extend to the hallway.

The dinosaur species of Patagotitan Mayorum was acquired a few years ago. It was a newly discovered species at the time. Photo: Saša Senica

In addition to dinosaurs, numerous fossils of extinct mammals are on display on the fourth floor, from mammoths to sabers. Most fossils collected both dinosaurs and mammals are stored in many repositories hidden from the public eyes.

Mammothi Photo: Saša Senica