Someone is selling a baby Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton for US$2.95 million on eBay and paleontologists aren't happy
- The skeleton, estimated to be 68 million years old, was first discovered in 2013, on private land in Montana. It became the property of the man who discovered it, Alan Detrich
- Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology criticised Detrich and the University of Kansas for helping inflating the price of the fossil and acting as a shop window
You would not normally associate the world of dutiful natural history preservation with sporadic bursts of all-caps letters and exclamation points – or at least not until last month, when the fossil of an infant Tyrannosaurus rex, potentially the only in existence, went on sale on eBay for the “buy it now” price of US$2.95 million.
The listing reads: “Most Likely the Only BABY T-Rex in the World! It has a 15 FOOT long Body and a 21” SKULL with Serrated Teeth! This Rex was very a very dangerous meat eater. It’s a RARE opportunity indeed to ever see a baby REX …”
The skeleton, estimated to be 68 million years old, was first discovered in 2013, on private land in Montana. It became the property of the man who discovered it, Alan Detrich, a professional fossil hunter. In 2017, Detrich lent the fossil to the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, where it was still on display when Detrich made the surprise decision to put it up for auction.
The Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology criticised both Detrich, who will be taking an important specimen outside the reach of scientific study, and the university, for helping to inflate the price of the fossil, acting as a shop window for professional buyers.