Record-breaking sale of a juvenile Ceratosaur dinosaur fossil at Sotheby's for a staggering $30.5 million, making it the third-costliest auctioned dinosaur find to date.
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In a historic auction at Sotheby's New York, a juvenile Ceratosaurus fossil was sold for an impressive $30.5 million on July 16, 2025. The sale marked the third-highest price ever paid for a dinosaur fossil at auction.
The Ceratosaurus specimen, noted for its near-completeness with 139 original bone elements, outstripped its presale estimate of $4-6 million by a significant margin. The fossil includes a remarkably complete and fully articulated skull, a rare find in the world of paleontology.
The bidding for the Ceratosaurus fossil involved six eager bidders. Brock Sisson, a former employee and commercial paleontologist, was the unnamed buyer. Sisson's company mounted the fossil before bringing it to Sotheby's for auction.
The Ceratosaurus fossil was previously exhibited unmounted at the Museum of Ancient Life, a nonprofit institution in Utah. After the sale, the buyer intends to loan the fossil to an institution, ensuring that it remains accessible to the public.
The natural history auction at Sotheby's featured several other notable sales. The largest piece of Mars on earth, the Martian Meteorite - NWA 16788, sold for $5.3 million with fees, setting a new world record for the most valuable meteorite ever sold at auction. The Skull of a Pachycephalosaurus and the articulated Tyrannosaurus Rex Foot, both dinosaur fossils, also sold for $1.758 million including fees, well above their high estimates.
Interestingly, all four of the top lots in the natural history sale accepted cryptocurrency payments.
For comparison, the second-highest known auction price for a dinosaur fossil is for the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton named Stan, which sold for $31.8 million at Christie's in October 2020. The highest price ever paid for a dinosaur fossil at auction is $44.6 million for a Stegosaurus skeleton named Apex, sold at Sotheby's in July 2024.
Here's a summary of the top three dinosaur fossil sales at auction:
| Rank | Dinosaur Fossil | Price Paid | Auction House | Date | |-------|--------------------------|---------------------|--------------------|--------------| | 1 | Stegosaurus "Apex" | $44.6 million | Sotheby's | July 2024 | | 2 | Tyrannosaurus rex "Stan" | $31.8 million | Christie's | October 2020 | | 3 | Juvenile Ceratosaurus | $30.5 million | Sotheby's | July 2025 |
This ranking confirms that the $44.6 million Stegosaurus holds the record for the highest dinosaur fossil sale at auction to date. The recent sale of the Ceratosaurus fossil has further solidified the growing interest and demand in the dinosaur fossil market.
- The collector Brock Sisson, a former employee and commercial paleontologist, bought the juvenile Ceratosaurus fossil for $30.5 million at an auction held in the museum-like environment of Sotheby's New York.
- The sale of the Ceratosaurus fossil signifies the ascension of the juvenile dinosaur into the realm of lifestyle choices for affluent collectors, underscoring the growing interest in art, science, and technology.
- The environmental science community might express concerns about the finances involved in the auction of fossils, as they could potentially contribute to the depletion of research resources and the deterioration of the environment.
- Education and self-development opportunities have been unearthed in the form of online resources about the Ceratosaurus auction, offering insights into various fields such as finance, medical-conditions, general news, sports, and entertainment.
- In the world of casino-and-gambling, the sale of the Ceratosaurus dinosaur fossil can be considered an impressive roll of the dice, with its buyers expected to make substantial returns from future exhibitions and loans.
- The space-and-astronomy enthusiasts might contemplate the connection between the sale of a dinosaur fossil and the exploration of distant celestial bodies, reflecting on the immense scales of discovery and commerce in our universe.
- The electricity generated by excited bidders and the heated competition in the auction room for the Ceratosaurus fossil could have potentially powered the city's weather stations that evening, providing valuable meteorological data for accurate weather forecasting.
- Although the Ceratosaurus fossil was served well by Sotheby's, one can only wonder how much it would have been worth to the collector if it had found a permanent home among the exhibits in the museum, surrounded by paintings, sculptures, and other remarkable artifacts of cultural and historical importance.
