The 1993 release of Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park created a generation interested in the history and collection of dinosaur fossils. This has created an explosion of interest in fossil ownership and led to more private sector involvement, from the excavating of dinosaurs to their sale, including at auction.
In a first for Christie’s London, they auctioned three fossils during their Jurassic Icons: Allosaurus & Stegosaurus auction, itself part of Christie’s London’s Classics Week sales. One lot contained two Allosauri together, while another was a Stegosaurus. Surprisingly, they were both bought by the same bidder with the paddle number 800.
After fees, the client paid a total of £12.4 million (around US$15.7 million) for both lots. The Allosaurus lot, in particular, netted a final sale price double that of the other lot, owing in large part to the fact that it features an adult Allosaurus along with a juvenile one. Both fossils were found next to each other during their excavation from southeastern Wyoming and showcase the apex predator's familial and social characteristics.
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: £5,000,000 - 8,000,000
Hammer Price: £6,800,000
Sold: £8,130,000 (around US$10.2 million)
The auctioneer opened bidding for this incredibly special lot of two dinosaur fossils together at £3.2 million. Bidding for this lot opened slowly but quickly turned into a several-minute-long bidding war between Associate Director, Client Advisor Yü-Ge Wang, and Head of Client Advisory, EMEA Patrick Saich, who were both representing their clients on the phone. As the competition grew fiercer, the increments their clients seemed willing to increase by randomly jumping around from £200,000 to £300,000, and eventually £100,000 per bid.
After a few back-and-forth bids for the lot, Yü-Ge Wang won the lot for her client with the paddle number 800 and with the hammer price of £6.8 million, and after fees, this came to a final price of £8.13 million.
While Jurassic Park created the Tyrannosaurus-rex's iconic image as the quintessential 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, interestingly the same dinosaur in the other sold lot.
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.
The concave vertebrae of the Allosaurus which is what set it apart from other dinosaur fossils discovered at the time
Howe
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
However, perhaps the most interesting part exhibited by this lot is the Allosorus' social nature, something that has been hotly debated among scientists since the 1970s. 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. The lot 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.
Lot 1 | Stegosaurus
Late Jurassic (circa 157-145 million years ago)
Meilyn Quarry, Medicine Bow, Carbon County, Wyoming, USA
249 x 542 x 206 cm
Provenance:
- Initial excavation in 2002
- Quarry and specimen acquired by current owner 2008
- Additional excavation campaigns 2017-2018
- Final prep work and mounting in Germany, 2023
Estimate: £3,000,000 - 5,000,000
Hammer Price: £3,500,000
Sold: £4,275,000 (around US$5.41 million)
For what was the first dinosaur fossil ever auctioned by Christie's London, the auctioneer opened bidding at £1.5 million. After some interest from various sources at the start of the bidding, it again became a bidding war between Yü-Ge Wang and Patrick Saich on behalf of their clients on the phone. Again, Yü-Ge Wang's client with the paddle number 800 would win, having won with the hammer price of £3.5 million, with them paying £4.27 million for the lot after fees.
The Stegosaurus isn't just one of the most recognizable dinosaurs of the Jurassic period, but one of the most famous dinosaurs overall. Its sail-like crest of armored plates and spiked tail are some of the distinctive features found across all dinosaurs in any era, and their image has been further ingrained in the public conscience by appearing in four out of the six Jurassic Park films.
This specific Stegosaurus was excavated from the same area as the Allosaurus in Wyoming, which happens to be the US state with the second most recorded fossils excavated from it. As of 2022, there are at least 1,118 documented fossils from the state, and within the United States, Wyoming comes only behind California in the total amount of fossils discovered within state borders.
The location of Carbon County, Wyoming where the fossils for both lots were excavated
While perhaps not as glamorous as the apex predators of the period, Stegosaurus is one of the most well-known herbivores, made distinct by its crest of armored plates and tail. Scientists hypothesize that these plates were not used for any defensive purpose as one would assume but instead for body temperature regulation. Scientists are split on whether they helped the Stegosaurus release body heat, helping them expel it out the top of their bodies, or if they angled them upwards towards the sun to absorb heat, warming them up.
The tail of the Stegosaurus, meanwhile, is another distinctive feature of the animal. Its specific name is a thagomizer, incidentally originating from a newspaper cartoon, and it was either used for display or as a defense against predators. Specific research has shown that the dinosaur had a physiology that lent itself well to balance and that its tailbone was far more flexible compared to other similar dinosaur fossils. This lends credence to the idea that it could swing its tail like a defensive weapon when needed, perhaps when fending off an Allosaurus.
The large fin-like plates on the back of the Stegosaurus
A close up on the plates
The spiked tail on the Stegosaurus
However, this Stegosaurus is not the only one sold this year, nor is it the most famous. Earlier 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.
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
Auction Details:
Auction House: Christie's London
Sale: Jurassic Icons: Allosaurus & Stegosaurus
Date: 12 December 2024
Number of Lots: 2
Sold: 2
Sale Total: £12,400,000 (around US$15.7 million)