# Massive T. Rex Fossil Unearthed on South Dakota Ranch Heads to Sotheby’s Auction Block, Could Fetch Over $30 Million
A Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton pulled from a remote South Dakota cattle ranch is set to go under the hammer this week in New York, with auction house Sotheby’s predicting the sale could rank among the most expensive fossil transactions in history — and reignite fierce debate over whether prehistoric giants belong in private hands or public museums.
## A Rancher’s Hunch Pays Off
The fossil, nicknamed “Gus,” was discovered on a 6,500-acre spread in Harding County owned by cattle rancher Gary Licking, whose own nickname inspired the dinosaur’s name. ,The first bone, a metatarsal from the foot, turned up in 2021 on the 6,500-acre ranch of Gary and Dana Licking., Sadly, ,Gary Licking, known as Gus, died in February 2022, a year into the excavation, before the full skeleton emerged.,
The excavation itself was a grueling, multi-year undertaking. ,The dig was led by Thomas Heitkamp, who started his career cataloging fossils at Bonhams auction house in Los Angeles before founding Theropoda Expeditions in 2012, and his team excavated the Licking site over three field seasons, from 2021 to 2023., Weather severely limited the crew’s window to work. ,He and his team could only work for about five months each year when the ground wasn’t frozen, hand digging an area of roughly 7,000 square feet to collect all of the material, while several natural faults on the site made tracking the fossil layer more difficult, presenting significant technical challenges given the sheer number of bones spread over such a wide area.,
The ranch sits in one of the most celebrated fossil-hunting grounds on the planet. ,The Licking ranch lies within the Hell Creek Formation, a legendary geological boneyard stretching across Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas — the most important place in the world for Tyrannosaurus rex, where one of the first T. rex skeletons was found in 1902 and the species’ name was coined based on fossils unearthed there.,
## Size, Completeness and a Record-Setting Price Tag
Gus is an imposing specimen by any measure. ,At 38 feet in length and 12.5 feet tall, with a skull measuring 54 inches, Gus is one of the largest T. rexes ever found, and includes 183 fossil bone elements, making it about 61% complete by bone count, or 75% to 80% complete by mass., The skull is particularly well preserved, ,measuring 54 inches long and preserving about 82 percent of its bones, while also carrying bite marks from another T. rex.,
Still, Gus falls short of the two most famous T. rex specimens ever unearthed. ,Sotheby’s notes that Gus is one of the most complete T. rex fossils ever found, but the specimen is less complete than both Stan, which is about 70% complete by bone count, and Sue, the first dinosaur fossil sold at auction in 1997, which set the standard with its impressive 90% completeness.,
Bidding for Gus begins Tuesday in New York. ,The lowest opening bid accepted will be $19 million, with an estimated sale price up to $30 million or more depending on buyer interest, Sotheby’s said., Even that lofty figure may undersell the fossil’s true market value. ,Sotheby’s estimates that Gus will go for up to $30 million, but that amount is likely conservative — the current record holder for a fossil auction, Apex the Stegosaurus, bought in 2024 by billionaire Ken Griffin, had a presale estimate of up to $6 million but ultimately sold for $44.6 million.,
One factor that could drive the price even higher: Gus comes without any legal entanglements tied to other famous specimens. ,Gus comes with “full rights,” meaning it contains no copyrighted bits of other dinosaurs, which could make it more appealing to buyers since they would hold those rights outright — a notable distinction, since missing bones in most mounted skeletons are typically filled in with casts from Stan, the neighboring T. rex from the same South Dakota county.,
## Scientists Worry the Skeleton Could Vanish From Public View
The impending sale has stirred anxiety among paleontologists who fear another scientifically valuable specimen could slip permanently out of researchers’ reach. ,A privately owned specimen cannot enter the scientific literature, and the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, the largest professional body in the field, holds in its bylaws that selling a scientifically significant fossil is not condoned unless it stays within a public trust, since its journal will not describe specimens held outside a permanent public collection.,
That concern is amplified by precedent. ,The last time a Tyrannosaurus rex broke the auction record, Stan sold at Christie’s in 2020 for $31.8 million and went to an undisclosed buyer, disappearing from public view for two years while paleontologists were left not knowing whether one of the best-studied T. rex skeletons had vanished into a vault forever.,
Experts warn a similar fate could befall Gus. ,”If this specimen goes to a private individual, it may or may not ever be seen by the public again,” said Stuart Sumida, a professor of biology at California State University, San Bernardino, and president of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology., Because most researchers decline to formally study privately owned fossils, ,no scientific work has been published on Gus, as most researchers will refuse to formally study a privately held specimen.,
Whether an American institution can compete for the fossil remains uncertain. ,The auction could lead to a purchase by either a museum or a private individual or group, though it is unlikely an American museum would have the funding to acquire Gus because many U.S. institutions are struggling financially., Interest may instead come from overseas. ,Across the world, interest remains high in major fossils in countries where funding may be more accessible, such as Japan, Korea, China, Dubai, Saudi Arabia or Europe.,
Notably, Theropoda Expeditions, the firm behind the years-long dig, is based in Texas — giving the Lone Star State a direct hand in bringing one of the largest predators to ever walk the earth back into the spotlight, even as its ultimate fate now rests with bidders gathered in a Manhattan auction room.