A nearly complete Tyrannosaurus rex discovered on a ranch in northwestern South Dakota is being offered at auction in New York this week, and auctioneers say the specimen could command a price of $30 million or more.
From a Harding County ranch to a Manhattan salesroom
The skeleton, nicknamed "Gus," measures roughly 38 feet long and stands more than 12 feet tall. Sotheby’s, which is handling the sale, describes the find as one of the most complete T. rex skeletons yet recovered.
The fossil was excavated from private land in Harding County, within the Hell Creek Formation — a geologic region that stretches into parts of Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming and has produced several notable dinosaur discoveries. The first bone recovered was a metatarsal found protruding from the ground in 2021 on property owned by Gary and Dana Licking, and excavation and preparation work was led by Theropoda Expeditions, a commercial team based in Texas.
"This is our longest-term project ever," Cassandra Hatton, worldwide head of Sotheby’s Science & Natural History division, said in a video about the sale.
How complete is Gus?
Sotheby’s says the specimen includes 183 bone elements, representing about 61% of the skeleton’s possible bones and roughly 75%–80% of the animal’s original bone mass by weight. By comparison, the well-known T. rex named Sue — discovered in 1990 in the same formation — is about 90% of possible bone mass and is considered the most complete T. rex on display.
- Length: approximately 38 feet
- Height: more than 12 feet
- Bone elements recovered: 183
- Estimated completeness by bone count: 61%
Local context and stakes
The auction follows a pattern in which commercially excavated fossils from private land enter the art and science market. Sales like this draw attention in South Dakota because the Hell Creek Formation is a rich source of Late Cretaceous remains and because previous high-profile discoveries from the region have ended up in museums after legal and financial negotiations. Sue, for example, was sold at auction in 1997 for $8.3 million and is now housed at the Field Museum in Chicago.
| Item | Gus | Sue (for comparison) |
|---|---|---|
| Approx. length | 38 ft | 40 ft |
| Approx. height | 12+ ft | 13 ft |
| Estimated completeness | 61% by bone count | ~90% by bone mass |
| Notable | Could set record auction price | Sold for $8.3M in 1997 |
The sale raises questions that resonate here in South Dakota: how specimens discovered on private property are handled, where significant finds ultimately reside, and how commercial excavation intersects with research priorities. For communities in the Hell Creek region, these discoveries bring renewed attention to the state’s fossil heritage and the economic and scientific decisions that follow.
The skeleton is on display at Sotheby’s in New York ahead of the auction. Sotheby’s promotional materials and museum-quality preparation by commercial paleontologists have positioned the specimen as a marquee lot with the potential to exceed prior records for dinosaur fossils.
As the sale unfolds in Manhattan, South Dakota residents who follow the state’s paleontological legacy will be watching to see whether Gus becomes the most expensive dinosaur ever sold and where the skeleton will ultimately be housed.
