One of the Largest T. Rex Fossils Ever Found Goes Up for Auction Today

A Giant from the Hell Creek Formation

Sixty-seven million years ago, a massive Tyrannosaurus rex roamed what is now South Dakota. Today, what remains of that creature — a skeleton nicknamed "Gus" — goes under the hammer at Sotheby's in New York City, with a starting bid of $19 million and the potential to rewrite the record books for dinosaur sales.

The creature is named after Gary "Gus" Licking, the owner of the South Dakota ranch where it was discovered. Licking died during the excavation process and never got to see Gus fully assembled. The late cattle rancher had always suspected his land was hiding something big. His ranch sits within the Hell Creek Formation, a legendary geological boneyard stretching across Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas — the most important place in the world for Tyrannosaurus rex.

The skeleton measures approximately 38 feet in length and rises to 12.5 feet tall, with a skull length of 54 inches and a femur larger than that of Stan, cementing Gus as one of the largest T. rex ever found. The specimen includes 183 fossil bone elements, plus 30 of the 32 rarely found gastralia — belly ribs — making it approximately 61% complete by bone count, with those bones representing 75–80% of the animal's total bone mass.

Years of Work, One Remarkable Discovery

Excavator Thomas Heitkamp of Theropoda Expeditions worked the Licking site over three field seasons from 2021 to 2023, with his team only able to work about five months each year when the ground wasn't frozen. They hand-dug roughly 7,000 square feet to collect all the material. All told, the Theropoda team spent nearly five years on the project — three years of excavation and research, plus another two years cleaning, identifying, cataloging, and assembling Gus, a process that concluded earlier this year.

Gus reportedly shows bite marks and evidence of fractures the dinosaur survived, which Sotheby's says may add to its scientific significance. However, no scientific work has been published on Gus, because most researchers will refuse to formally study a privately held specimen. That tension sits at the heart of the debate surrounding the auction.

Record Money, Uncomfortable Questions

The starting bid is $19 million, and the auction house estimates Gus could sell for $20 to $30 million. That estimate is reportedly the highest ever for a dinosaur fossil at auction — though not the highest final price, a designation that belongs to the stegosaurus skeleton "Apex," which sold for $44 million at Sotheby's two years ago. Apex sold for $44.6 million in 2024 and was purchased by billionaire investor Ken Griffin, who loaned it to the American Natural History Museum in New York for four years.

Paleontologist Scott Persons, curator of natural history at the South Carolina State Museum, says dinosaurs fetching tens of millions of dollars reflects an "increase in market demand," adding that "more and more dinosaurs are being sold this way and at ridiculous prices." Experts note it is unlikely an American museum would have the funding to acquire Gus, but international interest remains high — particularly in countries like Japan, South Korea, China, and nations in the Middle East and Europe where funding may be more accessible.

What Happens After the Hammer Falls

Sotheby's vice chair Cassandra Hatton describes a dinosaur market that is "broader than most people realize — and widening," with interest coming not only from U.S.-based museums and private collectors, but also major international museums, foundations, and individuals. Whether Gus ends up in a public institution or a private estate will determine whether scientists ever get a real chance to study him.

Persons argues that buyers who can afford to spend this much at auction could do more to support research, noting that "a sum like that could endow a research program at a public museum of your choosing." For now, the fate of one of the most extraordinary creatures ever to walk the Earth comes down to whoever is willing to write the biggest check — and what they choose to do with him next.