Nanotyrannus skeleton sells for $47.3m in New York auction

The mounted skeleton of a newly-identified dinosaur once mistaken for a young Tyrannosaurus rex has sold at auction for a colossal $47.3m (£35.5m).

Nicknamed Jodi, the roughly 10-foot-tall (3m) skeleton was auctioned by Sotheby's in New York. The sale comes a year after researchers confirmed that the skeleton belongs to a distinct genus.

The Late Cretaceous carnivore was expected to fetch at least $9m when it went under the hammer on Tuesday. The auction comes after Sotheby's sold a Tyrannosaurus rex, dubbed Gus, for a record $50.1m in July.

The sale has reignited debate in the scientific community over whether dinosaur remains should be sold privately or displayed publicly.

Sotheby's described Jodi as an "excellent exhibition-ready" skeleton with about 191 fossil-bone elements and a "beautifully preserved, virtually complete skull".

The auction house added that the Nanotyrannus is "one of only three such skeletons known to science". The specimen is the first to come to market since the existence of the genus was confirmed by US researchers last October, Sotheby's said.

The identify of the buyer, who won after a thrilling 12 minutes of auction bidding between six interested parties, has not been disclosed.

It becomes the second-most valuable dinosaur fossil ever sold, behind Gus. The third-most valuable was a Stegosaurus named Apex, which was sold by Sotheby's in July 2024 for $44.6m.