Nanotyrannus skeleton "Jodi" goes to auction in New York
A mounted dinosaur skeleton nicknamed "Jodi" is due to be sold at auction by Sotheby's in New York on Tuesday, 27 October. According to the BBC, the skeleton has a price tag of at least $6m (£4.5m) and is expected to fetch up to $9m.
"Jodi" is a Nanotyrannus, a dinosaur that was once mistaken for a young Tyrannosaurus rex. US researchers confirmed last October that it was a distinct genus, a separate formal category in the scientific classification of living and extinct animals. The research by Lindsay Zanno and James Napoli that drew that distinction relied in part on the "Dueling Dinosaurs" fossil, found in 2006 about 8 miles from where "Jodi" was discovered.
The specimen was found in Montana's Hell Creek Formation, a rock layer known for its late Cretaceous fossils, on the land of rancher Jodi Pierson. It was later excavated by Clayton Phipps. Nanotyrannus and Tyrannosaurus rex lived alongside one another about 67 million years ago.
According to the BBC, the mounted skeleton is roughly 10 feet (3m) tall. Sotheby's describes it as containing about 191 fossil-bone elements, including a virtually complete skull, and calls it an exceptional adult specimen. The auction house said it is one of only three Nanotyrannus skeletons known to science. It is also the first Nanotyrannus specimen to come to market since the genus was confirmed.
The skeleton has travelled a long way from the research bench. It was first shown as a juvenile T. rex at London's Frieze Masters art fair in October 2023. It was displayed at Sotheby's in New York on 13 October 2026 ahead of the sale, as NBC New York reported. Earlier this year, Sotheby's sold another dinosaur, a Tyrannosaurus rex nicknamed "Gus", for a record $50.1m (£37.4m) in July.
The sale has also raised a wider question. Some scientists debate whether dinosaur remains should be sold privately rather than kept in public collections. Palaeontologist Steve Brusatte described it as "harrowing" that "Jodi" could disappear into a collector's vault rather than be displayed in a museum.
The auction is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time in New York, with the skeleton on display at the auction house until then.
