The western United States is home to some of the greatest paleontological finds regarding dinosaurs and Earth’s past. Within this region is Wyoming, which is recorded as having the second most fossils uncovered in the United States, with there being at least 1,118 documented fossils from the state.
Among these fossils uncovered in Wyoming include a remarkably rare find of two Allosaurui uncovered together, one an adult, and another a juvenile. It offers an incredibly rare look into the behavior of these animals once thought to have been exclusively lone hunters. It offers a rare, nurturing perspective into the lives of these apex predators, and it is being offered by Christie’s London later this month.
Part of the auction house’s Jurassic Icons: Allosaurus & Stegosaurus auction, itself part of Christie’s London’s Classics Week sales, the stunningly preserved and mounted lot is being estimated at between GBP5,000,000 and 8,000,0000 (aroundUS$6.34 and 10.11 million).
Lot 2 | Adult and Juvenile Allosaurus
Late Jurassic (circa 157-145 million years ago)
Meilyn Quarry, Medicine Bow, Carbon County, Wyoming, USA
Adult dimensions: 182 x 560 x 260 cm
Juvenile dimensions: 153 x 346 x 84 cm
Provenance:
- Adult: Found and excavated in 1994-1995
- Juvenile: Found and excavated in 2002
- Both quarry and specimen acquired by current owner 2008
- Additional excavation campaigns 2017-2018
- Final prep work and mounting in Germany, 2022
Estimate: GBP 5,000,000 - 8,000,000 (around US$6.34 - 10.1 million)\
Auction House: Christie's London
Sale: Jurassic Icons: Allosaurus & Stegosaurus
Date: 12 December 2024
While Jurassic Park cemented the idea that the Tyrannosaurus-rex was the apex predator of the dinosaur age, the Allosaurus predates the T. rex by about 85 million years. It lived during the Late Jurassic period, around 160-145 million years ago, and was the apex predator of its time. It hunted other well-known dinosaurs, such as Brachiosaurus and Stegosaurus, and had interesting patterns of behavior that are reflected in this lot.
Paleontologists are generally split into two camps regarding how the Allosaurus lived. Some insist that the Allosaurus was a solitary hunter and not social, that evidence of Allosaurus feasting on one carcass was different individual dinosaurs coming to eat at different times, and that the Allosaurus was a rather competitive and hostile creature with other members of its species. However, alternative theories propose that the Allosaurus was very social and hunted in packs, a theory this lot supports.
A museum piece depicting an Allosaurus fighting a Stegosaurus at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science
What makes this lot stand out is that it contains two dinosaur skeletons, an adult and a juvenile Allosaurus, together. These were found together when excavated in Wyoming, with the adult being uncovered in 1994-1995 and the juvenile in 2002.
While not confirmed to be parent and child Allosaurui, the two dinosaurs do display a level of social interaction and groupings of the animal at least on some sort of parental level. It infers that even if they were solitary hunters, they could’ve possibly shared resources and moved into familial units or packs. The social nature of the Allosaurus has been proposed since the 1970s, with various biological traits of the Allosaurus pointing towards them living in social and hierarchical packs.
It seems that this lot has helped support the idea that at least in its youth, Allosaurus may have lived in familial units and packs where smaller and weaker dinosaurs were supported until maturation. It also suggests that they were flexible in their groups and exploited various hunting niches, contributing to their nature as apex predators, in keeping with the age differences that family groups may have operated in.
The skull of the Allosaurus, which had a brain similar to that of crocodiles
The concave vertebrae of the Allosaurus which is what set it apart from other dinosaur fossils discovered at the time
The name, Allosaurus, comes from the Greek word allos, which means “different” or "strange," a reference to how the Allosaurus was different from various other discovered fossils at the time. The fossil was first described in 1877 by paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh in Colorado, and what set it apart was its unique concave vertebrae and how light it was.
The biology of the Allosaurus was highly geared to its role as an apex predator. While not as fast as Tyrannosaurus, it had much larger claws and toes, better at grabbing prey. Additionally, it had a considerable amount of muscle in its legs, giving it strong force and surprising agility for an animal of its size. Allosaurus also evolved to have a strong tail to counterbalance all this muscle and bulk, as well as a foot designed to leverage its force.
Othniel Charles Marsh the paleontologist who discovered Allosaurus in 1877 in Colorado, USA
The claws and legs of the Allosaurus were designed to easily grab and crush prey
The tail of the Allosaurus which was long and quite powerful to counterbalance the weight of the dinosaur's body
The recent history of fossils at auction has been rather complex. Ever since the release of Jurassic Park in 1993, there has been an explosion of interest in the field as people desire to purchase and own these samples of Earth’s ancient past. This has created more private-sector interest and investment in digging up fossils and the desire to sell them on the market.
Just this year a historical auction record was set when the “most perfect” specimen of a Stegosaurus fossil was sold by Sotheby’s New York on 17 July 2024 for US$44.6 million, including fees. This record-setting price was paid by multi-billionaire Ken Griffin and exemplifies the popularity surrounding fossils at auction. More can be read about that here.
However, at times it can be difficult to verify fossils and prove their authenticity. Most infamously, in 2022 Christie's Hong Kong had to pull the sale of a T. rex fossil, estimated at US$25 million, after experts pointed out that most of the bones in the skeleton were replicas.
Stegosaurus | "Apex" - A Mounted Stegosaurus Skeleton | Sold for US$44.6 million by Sotheby's New York, 2024