Paleontologists have long been outraged by private sales of dinosaur skeletons; nevertheless, the wound was reopened last month when a complete, 10-foot-tall Gorgosaurus skeleton was sold at auction to an unidentified buyer.
The $6.1million sale at Sotheby’s auction house in New York, and others like it, are putting prehistoric remains out of reach of the scientific community that studies them, say scientists who fear that once in private hands, the prehistoric specimens will become “nothing more than toys for the rich.”
Steve Brusatte, an American paleontologist linked with the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, told, Steve Brusatte, an American paleontologist linked with the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, told
They are essentially toys for the wealthy. If an oligarch purchases a dinosaur skeleton and displays it in the foyer of one of his houses, it will be effectively lost to science. ‘Gone, like a ghost.’
In the past, museums would either acquire the specimens themselves or send a collector to do their bidding on their behalf. However, in recent years, relics have become highly regarded as works of art for the wealthy, and museums cannot compete with the exorbitant costs.
The Gorgosaurus, a T. rex ancestor, is one of only 20 examples of its sort identified so far, and the sale of one in July was detrimental to science because dozens are required to ascertain precise characteristics. For instance, at least 70 specimens must be examined to understand how to recognize characteristics that distinguish the sex of dinosaurs.
Although knowing the gender of a dinosaur may not be of interest to the general public, it is vital to the scientific community’s efforts to study prehistoric history. These extinct organisms were also instrumental in the development of evolutionary theory and other scientific concepts, such as plate tectonics and biogeography.
Thomas Carr, a paleontologist at Carthage College in Wisconsin, told that “[Sales like these] are like burning the final copy of a book. When the skeleton was sold to a private collector, it ceased to exist for science.” Consider that all we know about humanity is you and me. This is insufficient information to know everything about everyone.
Carr stated that dinosaur fossils must be deposited somewhere accessible to the scientific community, such as the Museum of Natural History in New York City, or else they are considered lost to the world.
However, according to auction houses, there is little proof that sales to private collectors harm science.
Cassandra Hatton, senior vice president of Sotheby’s, told DailyMail.com, “The world’s greatest museums all began as private collections, and the entire concept of a museum was derived from the early modern tradition of cabinets of curiosity.”
‘These specimens have survived for millions of years and will continue to exist for millions more; there is a possibility that they will not be available for research immediately after the sale, but they will be in the future.
Private collectors and research organizations can mutually benefit in ways that are crucial for the long-term preservation of fossil specimens and the promotion of public knowledge and education about dinosaurs.
SUE: THE T-REX THAT ALL BEGAN WITH
In 1997, a T. rex dubbed Sue sold at auction for $8.4 million, igniting a boom in the market for dinosaur bones. It was the very first dinosaur ever displayed at Sotheby’s.
Sue was acquired by the Field Museum in Chicago, but the high price tag opened the floodgates for auctions and encouraged the public to look for fossilized bones and sell them for top pay.
Sue was discovered on August 12, 1990, in Maurice Williams’ Cheyenne River Sioux tribe in South Dakota.
However, paleontologist Susan Hendrickson, after whom the specimen is named, and paleontologist Peter Larson discovered it.
Larson paid Williams $5,000 for the T. rex, but shortly after it was unearthed, Larson began to receive substantial offers for the dinosaur. After hearing this, Williams stated that he authorized the scientists to search the property, but not to remove anything they discovered.
Sue was confiscated by federal investigators in 1992 because no government approval had been provided for the transfer of the fossil from federal areas. A year later, Sue was given to Williams, who auctioned it off.
Sue was auctioned off at Sotheby’s art auction in 1997, with nine bidders competing for the dinosaur. The winner after eight minutes was the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
