A rare Nanotyrannus skeleton, a distant cousin of the T. rex, is displayed at Sotheby's in New York ahead of its Oct. 27 auction. The fossil is estimated to fetch between $6 and $9 million.
A rare fossil of a Nanotyrannus, a smaller and nimbler distant cousin of the Tyrannosaurus rex, is currently on display at Sotheby’s headquarters in New York. The skeleton, nicknamed "Jodi," is scheduled for auction on Oct. 27, 2026, with an estimated price between $6 and $9 million.
While the fossil resembles an undersized T. rex, it possesses distinct physical characteristics, including longer arms and legs. Standing 6.5 feet (2 meters) tall and stretching nearly 20 feet (6 meters) long, "Jodi" is one of only three known Nanotyrannus skeletons in existence.
Cassandra Hatton, a vice chair at Sotheby’s, emphasized the scientific significance of the specimen. "What’s really exciting is that until they proved this genus existed, we thought that T. rex was the only apex predator of the Cretaceous," Hatton said. "We now know that they coexisted. They lived alongside each other, occupying distinct niches in the ecological system."
The distinction between the two species was confirmed by research published in October 2025. Scientists examined growth rings within preserved bones and determined that Nanotyrannus specimens were fully formed adults rather than juvenile T. rexes. This finding challenged previous assumptions that the T. rex was the sole large predator of the Cretaceous period, approximately 67 million years ago.
According to Hatton, there are more than 150 key differences between the two dinosaurs. An adult Nanotyrannus was about half the length of an adult T. rex, with longer forelimbs and larger hand claws. Its teeth were slender and bladelike, designed to slash meat from faster prey, whereas the T. rex had thick, banana-shaped teeth for crushing bone and eating slower prey whole.
The fossil is named after Jodi Pierson, the Montana rancher who discovered it on her land in 2019. The excavation was featured in the Discovery Channel documentary series "Dino Hunters" in 2020. Sotheby’s describes "Jodi" as the "finest and most complete" Nanotyrannus skeleton currently available, noting it is almost 70% complete with a virtually complete skull and a jaw containing roughly 35 teeth.
The specimen was found approximately 8 miles (13 kilometers) from the site of the "Dueling Dinosaurs" fossil, a famous specimen nicknamed "Bloody Mary" that depicts a Nanotyrannus and a Triceratops. "Bloody Mary" is housed at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and is not for sale. The third known Nanotyrannus skeleton is located at the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, Illinois.
The auction has drawn criticism from the scientific community. The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, an advocacy group for scientists and scholars, has called for significant fossils to be displayed in museums and research institutions rather than sold to private collectors.
Stuart Sumida, the society’s president and a biology professor at California State University San Bernardino, argued that private ownership hinders scientific progress. "No peer-reviewed scientific study can be published on specimens that are not held in the public trust," Sumida said. "Once in private hands it can never be studied, and generations of children and adults alike will never see it again."
Hatton countered that private dinosaur hunters play a crucial role in scientific preservation. "We don’t have enough universities and museums out there digging and doing field programs," she said. "We absolutely need private diggers who invest their own money to go do this."
The sale of "Jodi" highlights the ongoing tension between the commercial market for fossils and the scientific community's need for public access to specimens. While Sotheby’s argues that private funding enables discoveries that public institutions cannot support, scientists warn that private ownership restricts research and public education. This auction follows Sotheby’s sale of a T. rex fossil for a record $50.1 million earlier this summer, underscoring the high value and controversial nature of the fossil trade.
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This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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