LEVI, Utah (KSTU/CNN) — An incredibly rare dinosaur fossil had been on display for many years at a Utah museum.
This week, it sold at auction for more than $30 million.
The 150-million-year-old specimen is one of only four dino skeletons of its kind ever to be discovered.
A paleontologist talked about the recent sale.
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“This is big stuff. I just wish I was younger so I could follow up on it more,” said James Kirkland, Utah’s state paleontologist.
After 50 years of working in an ancient world, Kirkland has uncovered plenty of history and made names for it, too.
“And I’m working on three more right now, so that’ll bring me up to 26 dinosaurs I’ve named in this area,” he said.
But another local fossil he’s not responsible for is making quite the name for itself.
“Ceratosaurus, it’s one of the real popular dinosaurs … because it’s the big, meat-eating dinosaur with a horn on its nose and above its eyes,” Kirkland said.
At 6 feet tall and 11 feet long, the juvenile ceratosaurus is the only one of its kind.
It used to be on display at the Museum of Ancient Life in Lehi before getting sold to a Pleasant Grove LLC called Fossilogic.
On Wednesday, it went to the highest bidder at a Sotheby’s auction.
“When they put it up, I said I bet it goes for about $10 million. I underestimated by a touch,” Kirkland said.
After fees, the 150-million-year-old piece carried a $30.5 million price tag.
Despite the disappointment of some in the profession, Kirkland points out that there was absolutely nothing wrong with this sale. He simply hopes that those bones, or the funds that were gleaned from them, can go back to supporting this scientific work.
James Kirkland, Utah State Paleontologist: “You know, if you gave me - our program $26 million, we’d get you dozens of new dinosaurs. Not dozens of skeletons, dozens of totally unnamed dinosaurs,” Kirkland said.
Fossilogic founder Brock Sisson says he used to work at the Lehi museum, and helped put the ceratosaur on display.
After acquiring it from them, he then had to custom-mount every single bone for this sale.
While the auction was anonymous, he says he too would be disappointed if it goes to a private collection.
“The word will come out eventually, where it went. Hopefully, someone will get to do science on it,” Kirkland said.
But Sisson says he intends to put some of the money back into paleontology work in Utah, and he hopes that fossil will find its way to a museum to be available scientifically.
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