New York City recently hosted an auction of rare geological and archaeological objects, featuring the largest piece of Mars ever found which was sold for over $5 million.
However, it was a rare young dinosaur skeleton which actually stole the show when it fetched more than $30 million in a bidding frenzy.
The largest Martian meteorite rock on Earth
The 54-pound (25-kilogram) rock, officially named NWA 16788 was sold for approximately $5.3 million, including fees and costs, making it the most valuable meteorite ever auctioned.
The rock was discovered in the Sahara Desert, Niger by a meteorite hunter in November 2023, after it was blown off the surface of Mars by a massive asteroid strike, according to Sotheby’s report, cited by AP.
The red, brown and gray meteorite is about 70% larger than the next largest piece of Mars found on Earth and represents nearly 7% of all the Martian pieces currently on this planet, AP reported.
Cassandra Hatton, vice chairman for science and natural history at Sotheby’s highlighted the rarity of the find, noting that only 400 Martian meteorites out of the more than 77,000 officially recognized meteorites found on Earth are Martian.
“This Martian meteorite is the largest piece of Mars we have ever found by a long shot,” Hatton said. “So it’s more than double the size of what we previously thought was the largest piece of Mars.”
The star of the auction
Stealing the show was a rare young dinosaur skeleton that fetched an astounding $30.5 million, including fees and costs after a six minutes bidding war among six interested participants.
The skeleton is identified as a Ceratosaurus nasicornis, which is one of only four known skeletons of its species and the only juvenile one. The species resemblesthe Tyrannosaurus rex but is smaller.
The bidding began with a high advance offer of $6 million, quickly escalating during the live round with bids $500,000 higher than the last and later $1 million higher than the last before ending at $26 million.
The winner plans to loan dinosaur skeleton to an institution, Sotheby’s told AP.
This sale marks the third-highest amount paid for a dinosaur at an auction. A Stegosaurus skeleton called “Apex” holds the record after it was sold for $44.6 million last year at Sotheby’s.
Parts of the juvenile dinosaur were found in 1996 near Laramie, Wyoming, at Bone Cabin Quarry, which is considered a gold mine for dinosaur bones. It was acquired last year by Fossilogic, a Utah-based fossil preparation and mounting company.
The skeleton is more than 6 feet (2 meters) tall and nearly 11 feet (3 meters) long, and is believed to belong to the lateJurassic period, about 150 million years ago.
Ceratosaurus dinosaurs could grow up to 25 feet (7.6 meters) long, while the T. rex could be 40 feet (12 meters) long, the news agency reported.