76 million-year-old dinosaur skeleton to be auctioned in New York

Gorgosaurus is the only specimen available for private ownership

• 

  A Gorgosaurus skeleton is the first to be offered at auction at Sotheby's in New York. AP

• 

  The Gorgosaurus skeleton may end up in someone's living room. AP

• 

  The Gorgosaurus skeleton is expected to fetch millions at auction. AP

• 

  The Gorgosaurus is a relative of Tyrannosaurus rex. AP

• 

  A photographer takes a picture of the Gorgosaurus skeleton, which measures about three metres. AFP

• 

  The specimen will be the highlight of the Sotheby’s auction. AFP

• 

  Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s global head of science and popular culture, called the skeleton 'unbelievable'. AFP

• 

  Ms Hatton stands near the Gorgosaurus on display at Sotheby's auction house. EPA

• 

  A Gorgosaurus Skeleton measuring 10 feet tall (3. 04 meters) is unveiled at Sotheby’s in New York, on July 05, 2022. - The Specimen is the highlight of Sotheby’s geek week sale series and is estimated at $5 to 8 million. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)

• 

  An art handler looks at the Gorgosaurus skeleton. AFP

• 

  A potential bidder looks at the Gorgosaurus on display at Sotheby's auction house. EPA

• 

  A full view of the Gorgosaurus on display at Sotheby's auction house. EPA

• 

  Ms Hatton did not say if they had named the specimen. EPA

The fossilised skeleton of a relative of Tyrannosaurus rex that roamed the earth about 76 million years ago will be auctioned in New York this month, Sotheby’s announced on Tuesday.

The Gorgosaurus skeleton will be the highlight of Sotheby’s natural history auction on July 28, the auction house said.

The dinosaur was an apex carnivore that lived in what is now the western US and Canada during the late Cretaceous Period. It predated its relative the Tyrannosaurus rex by 10 million years.

The specimen being sold was discovered in 2018 in the Judith River Formation near Havre, Montana, Sotheby’s said. It measures about three metres tall and 6.7 metres long.

All of the other known Gorgosaurus skeletons are in museum collections, making this the only specimen available for private ownership, the auction house said.

“In my career, I have had the privilege of handling and selling many exceptional and unique objects, but few have the capacity to inspire wonder and capture imaginations quite like this unbelievable Gorgosaurus skeleton,” said Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s global head of science and popular culture.

Sotheby’s presale estimate for the fossil is between $5 million to $8m.

• 

  A reconstruction of the newly discovered yet unnamed abelisaurid. Photo: Andrew McAfee, Carnegie Museum of Natural History

• 

  A team from the Egyptian Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Centre discovered the vertebrae of a new species of dinosaur in Egypt’s Western Desert. Photo: The American University in Cairo

• 

  The vertebrae were discovered in the Bahariya Oasis. Photo: The American University in Cairo

• 

  A reconstruction of the ecosystem of the Bahariya Oasis about 98 million years ago, showing the diversity of large predatory dinosaurs. The newly discovered abelisaurid is depicted on the right. Photo: Andrew McAfee, Carnegie Museum of Natural History

• 

  Hesham Sallam, professor of vertebrate paleontology at The American University in Cairo (AUC) and founder of the Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Centre. Photo: AUC

• 

  A picture of the recently discovered vertebra. Photo: The American University in Cairo