Most complete T. rex fossil to fetch up to $30 million at auction

By Dean Murray

A T. rex named Gus is set to be auctioned with the highest estimate ever placed on a dinosaur.

One of the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex specimens ever discovered, Sotheby's New York is to offer it with a record estimate of $20–30 million.

The fossil was discovered by Thomas Heitkamp and his team on land owned by the late Gary “Gus” Licking, a cattle rancher in Harding County, South Dakota. It was excavated between 2021 and 2023.

Sotheby's said: "Gus is importantly a single specimen, offered with full rights; with an incredible 183 fossil bone elements, it is approximately 63% complete by bone count, with these bones representing 75–80% of the bone mass of the animal, placing it firmly among the most complete T. rex specimens ever found."

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Thomas Heitkamp said: “This specimen took three years to excavate — with the team sometimes working for weeks straight without finding a thing.

"In the end, our diligence paid off and we were delighted to discover what turned out to be a huge and incredibly complete T. rex specimen.

"It really does feel like tackling the world’s hardest puzzle, except we have to find all the pieces first. All those bones separated for 67 million years that we can now, almost magically, fit back together. There’s something deeply satisfying about that."

The highest price ever paid for a dinosaur at auction was for the sale of the nearly complete Stegosaurus fossil nicknamed Apex in 2024, which achieved $45 million and set a world record for any dinosaur or fossil at auction. Apex was estimated by Sotheby's to sell for between $4–$6 million.

Gus will headline the auction house’s Natural History sale on July 14 in New York.