A Tyrannosaurus rex skull is expected to fetch up to $20 million (about R346 million) at an auction next month, according to the auction house's global head of science and popular culture, Cassandra Hatton, who says that the sale was an "unprecedented moment,“ CNN reports.
The dinosaur skulls weighs over 90kg’s and stands at 2 metres tall. If the sale goes through, the skull could become one of the most valuable fossils sold at the auction when it is offered at a sale in New York in December.
The dinosaur skull which has been named Maximus, is one of the most complete of its kind ever found, the auction house said, adding that it represents a "rare and important paleontological discovery."
According to archaeologists, the skull was excavated in 2020 and 2021 in Harding County, South Dakota, where other T. rex skeletons like Sue and Stan were found, according to Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s head of science and popular culture.
She called the area "the world capital for T. rexes."
The auction house made history recently, when a Piet Mondrian Composition No. II, a masterwork from 1930, sold for a record $51 million to a collector from Asia, establishing a new world auction record for the artist.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world in New Zealand, the Daily Mail UK reported on Friday that the fossilized remains of a pregnant Tyrannosaurus rex are set to be unveiled to the public for the first time at New Zealand's Auckland War Memorial Museum on Friday, 2 December 2022.
According to archaeologists, the remains were unearthed in the Hell Creek Formation of north-western Montana by paleontologists who believe the 38-foot-long predator, named Barbara, walked the Earth more than 66 million years ago.
IOL