Tip keep making history. Thanks to its skeleton, composed of approximately 100 fossil bones and in excellent condition, it has just been paid for 3.46 million pounds (3.95 million euros) at Christie’s in London. Despite this figure, it is a far cry from what was paid in its time for Apex, a stegosaurus from 150 million years ago sold for 38.3 million euros at Sotheby’s in New York.
Its value was clear from the start. He dinosaur directed the collection Pioneers: icons of our timewhich included a selection of thirty lots covering natural history, cinema, music, literature, fashion and technology. And that was reflected in its final price, as the bid was higher than initially expected, according to Christie’s.
This oviraptorosaur It exceeded the estimates of experts and appraisers, who estimated an initial value of between 3.43 and 5.72 million euros, as few specimens of its species have been found since the discovery of the first in 1940, as the auction house confirmed in a press release.
Spike is still unique
Spike’s skeleton, which lived in the Upper Cretaceous (about 68 million years ago), is a relatively recent discovery. His remains were located on the side of a cliff on private land in South Dakota (United States). In total, around a hundred fossil bones were discovered in an exceptional state of conservation.
According to specialists, this excellent preservation was possible because the dinosaur was buried in a thick layer of mudpreventing decomposition and scavengers from destroying his corpse. His body was buried and the bones were protected by a rare combination of pressure and mineralization.
After its reconstruction, mounted on a personalized framereaches measurements of 199.5 x 198.5 x 67 centimeters. Additionally, all four key skeletal regions are visible to the naked eye in its skeleton: the jaws, hands, pelvis, and feet.
Spike is unique for many reasons, beyond its excellent preservation. It is part of the oviraptorosaur family, some bipedal dinosaurs (they walked on two legs) with feathers. These were characterized by their small skull and their pointed beak, similar to that of birds. They were also extremely fast, capable of moving at around 60 kilometers per hour, faster than the iconic Tyrannosaurus Rex.
The dinosaur race
This is not the first time that the remains of a dinosaur have been sold at auction and the largest offer ever in history. Last year, Christie’s sold three specimens of dinosaurs from the Jurassic era (aged 200 to 145 million years) to the highest bidder for an amount of 14.2 million euros. The skeleton of a Ceratosaurus nasicornis of 150 million years this summer reached around 26 million euros.
However, neither Spike nor anyone else managed to surpass the amount paid in July 2024 for the skeleton of Apex, a stegosaurus from 150 million years ago, which sold for $44.6 million (38.3 million euros) at Sotheby’s in New York.
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