Rare Nanotyrannus Fossil 'Jodi' Fetches $47.3 Million at Auction

The anonymous buyer secured the fossil after a 12-minute bidding war against five other contenders. This sale marks the second-highest price ever paid for a dinosaur skeleton, trailing only the $50.1 million paid for a T. rex named Gus earlier this summer. Discovered in 2019 on a Montana ranch by landowner Jodi Pierson, the specimen is roughly 70% complete and features distinctive blade-like teeth and longer forelimbs that differentiate it from its famous cousin, the T. rex.

While Sotheby’s celebrated the sale as a triumph for fossil hunters featured in the documentary series Dino Hunters, the transaction reignites a long-standing debate within the scientific community. Many researchers argue that specimens of such historical significance belong in public museums rather than private collections, where they remain inaccessible for formal study. This particular fossil gained renewed scientific interest last year when research confirmed Nanotyrannus as a distinct genus rather than a juvenile T. rex, solidifying its importance to the paleontological record.