More T. rex fossils being sold to private collectors: Study
(NewsNation) — More Tyrannosaurus rex fossils are landing in the hands of wealthy private collectors through the luxury auction market, which is affecting how many of the treasured species are being made available for scientific research.
A study that was recently published in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica revealed that more T. rex fossils are now held by private individuals than by public museums or trusts.
The study, conducted by Thomas Carr, a leading paleontologist at Carthage College in Wisconsin, found that 71 T. rex specimens, including 14 juveniles, are in the possession of private collectors. Compared to this, 61 of the fossils are held in public trusts. The study also found that only 11% of the commercially discovered T. rex fossils actually end up in museums.
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Meanwhile, private buyers who obtain scientifically valuable fossils have been able to gain possession of more specimens since 1992 than public museums and other institutions have been able to in nearly 150 years.
In his study, Carr determined that the total of 71 specimens currently in public hands is likely being undercounted due to the 'secretive nature' of the private market for the fossils, Newser.com reported.
'Vertebrate paleontology is at a point in history where it is faced with a society that considers it acceptable to sell rare nonrenewable fossil resources as luxury items,' Carr wrote in the scientific study.
The 14 juvenile specimens carry the heaviest scientific costs, Carr determined, because 'the early growth stages of the T. rex are bedeviled by a poor fossil record,' the study said.
In 2020, a 67 million-year-old T. rex specimen nicknamed 'Stan' shattered an auction sales record after it fetched nearly $32 million at an auction at Christie's New York. The previous record for the priciest fossil was $8.36 million in 1997. That sale involved a T. rex fossil known as 'Sue,' which was sold to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
Carr has called the shift to the T. rex fossils landing in private collections 'dispiriting and exasperating,' according to a statement provided to livescience.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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