Sotheby’s says a Tyrannosaurus rex skull discovered in South Dakota is expected to sell for between $20.1 to $26.3 million when it is auctioned next month in New York. .The Guardian reported Tuesday the 76 million-year-old T-rex, nicknamed Maximus, is being sold by an anonymous seller at a live auction on Dec. 9. .The skull weighs 200 lbs and measures about two metres. It is one of the most complete specimens ever found and rivals those kept in museum collections..The skull was excavated in Harding County, SD, in 2021, where the T-rex skeletons Sue and Stan were found. .Sue, the first dinosaur sold at auction, fetched $5.4 million in 1997. Stan was sold to a mystery buyer later revealed to be the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi for $42.7 million in 2020, where it will go on display in 2025. .Most of the remains of Maximus were destroyed by erosion. .“But this T-rex fossil is an extraordinary discovery,” said Sotheby’s palaeontologist consultant Henry Galiano. .“Unearthed in one of the most concentrated areas for T-rex remains, the skull retained much of its original shape and surface characteristics with even the smallest and most delicate bones intact, with an extremely high degree of scientific integrity.”.Galiano said without the work of palaeontologists who collected and preserved the skull, it could “have eroded away and been lost to science forever.” .Sotheby’s Head of Popular Science and Culture Cassandra Hatton said two large puncture holes in the skull prove the T-rex had been in a fight, probably with a member of the same species. .“We don’t know that this is what caused the death of this animal, but we can tell that it did have a major battle during its lifetime,” said Hatton.
