A collector paid more than $7 million for this Triceratops skeleton in 2021.

Shutterstock.com (background, sales tag); Cover Images via AP Images (Triceratops)

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Should Fossils Be for Sale?

October 14, 2024
By Karen Grimaldos

How does a dinosaur get to the mall? That might sound like a riddle, but it’s no joke. Since 2014, a skeleton of a dinosaur called a Diplodocus (duh-PLAH-duh-kuhss) has been on display at a mall in the United Arab Emirates. That is a country in Asia. 

The skeleton was sold at an auction. In an auction, whoever bids the most money on an item wins it. Dino fossils are often sold at auctions. Last year, a collector paid about $6 million for a T. rex skeleton. 

Some collectors say owning dinosaur fossils is worth the huge price tag. Many buyers display their purchases in their homes. But some scientists say fossils should never be sold to collectors. They believe the remains belong in museums. That way, researchers can study them.

Should wealthy collectors be allowed to buy dinosaur fossils?

Many scientists think fossils should not be sold to the highest bidder. For one thing, few museums can afford to spend millions of dollars to buy them. When fossils end up in private collections, researchers may not be able to study them. Some people say that’s a shame. After all, scientists can learn a lot about the past by examining dino bones.  

Others point out that visiting a museum is many people’s only chance to see a fossil. But that can’t happen when the remains sit in a collector’s home.

“These dinosaur fossils contain important information,” says Thomas Carr. He is a paleontologist at Carthage College in Wisconsin. “Once we lose a fossil to a private collector, it’s like losing a part of our memory permanently. It never comes back.” 

The most expensive fossil ever sold was Stan the T. rex. A buyer paid nearly $32 million for it in 2020.

Source: Smithsonian Institution

Urbanmyth/Alamy Stock Photo

Visitors check out the Diplodocus skeleton on display at a mall. 

Some people say fossil hunters should be allowed to sell dino remains to earn money. Otherwise, many fossils would never be dug up. That’s because searching for dino bones is expensive. Many museums can’t afford to do so.   

“I’m finding things that probably wouldn’t have been found any other way,” says Craig Pfister. He owns Great Plains Paleontology. That is a fossil-finding company. “If a fossil is never found and just erodes, everyone loses.”

Plus, Pfister points out, fossils sold at auctions often end up in the hands of researchers anyway. 

For example, in 2008, a bidder won a Triceratops skeleton. Soon after, they gave it to a museum in Massachusetts. It’s still on display there. 

Fossils from only about 30 adult T. rex have ever been found.

Source: Nature.com

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