The most expensive dinosaur fossil ever sold at auction is now on public display at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City.
“Apex” is a stegosaurus skeleton discovered in May 2022 by commercial paleontologist Jason Cooper near Dinosaur, Colorado. The dinosaur was found in the Morrison Formation, a layer of sedimentary rock formed at the end of the Jurassic period. Like other fossil animals in this formation, Apex lived about 150 million years ago.
The fossil is also notable for being remarkably complete. About 80% of the skeleton’s bones are found, making it one of the most complete stegosaurus fossils ever discovered. This completeness, in combination with other stegosaurus fossils, will help paleontologists learn more about how stegosaurs evolved from kitten-sized babies to animals even longer than minibuses.
“As exciting as it is to display this dinosaur, it is even more exciting to have the opportunity to study it and provide important scientific data for research,” Roger Benson, the museum’s Macaulay Curator of Paleontology, said in a statement. “Stegosaurus is one of the top dinosaurs known by the general public, but scientifically, we still have much to learn.”
Apex is 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) tall and 27 feet (8.2 meters) long. Its pointed tail is raised, as if the dinosaur is about to defend itself. The specimen does not belong to the AMNH but is being loaned by its buyer, hedge fund manager and billionaire Kenneth C. Griffin. Griffin bought the skeleton at auction in July 2024 for $44.6 million.
That purchase price made Apex more expensive than the previous record-holder, a T. rex named “Stan,” which went for $31.8 million in 2020. Illustrating the dangers of private sales of specimens, Stan remained out of the public eye for two years after the sale, leading scientists to worry that the fossil’s scientific value would be lost.
However, Stan appeared in Abu Dhabi in 2022, and is scheduled to go on display at a newly built National History Museum there in 2025. Apex will also be available to the research community in the near future, according to the statement.
The AMNH plans to keep the skeleton on display for four years. After that, a cast will replace the original bones. In the meantime, Griffin has been awarded a three-year postdoctoral fellowship to study Apex.
The aim is to identify which species of Stegosaurus apex belonged to, as well as investigate the metabolism and evolution of stegosaurs, according to the museum. Scientists will take samples of the dinosaur’s thigh bone and also perform CT scanning of its skull structure.