In today’s Finshots, we talk about how dinosaur fossils have become luxury collectibles and why that’s a big problem for science.

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The Story

In July last year, a dinosaur fossil named Apex made headlines. And it wasn’t just any fossil. It was a 150-million-year-old Stegosaurus skeleton that sold for a record-breaking $44.6 million at a Sotheby’s auction. The buyer? Hedge fund billionaire Kenneth Griffin.

But just five months later, Griffin generously handed it over to the American Museum of Natural History so it could be studied and made available for public viewing for the next four years.

And that’s a huge win for science. Because while it’s at the museum, researchers can study the skeleton up close to learn more about how extinct animals, especially dinosaurs, evolved over time. Or even create a replica in the meantime, so the research can continue long after the original fossil returns to Griffin.

But scientists don’t always get that lucky. Not every billionaire is willing to open their collection to researchers or museums. More often than not, you’ll find these massive ancient skeletons adorning the living rooms of rich folks who bought them at auctions. They’re treated as collectors’ items or even stashed away in storage without proper preservation, just because they’ll rack up millions of dollars more in value over time.

How’s that, you ask?

Well, for starters, collecting dinosaur fossils has turned into a full blown luxury trade, something billionaires chase not just for the thrill, but for the bragging rights. Because let’s be honest, nothing screams status quite like a prehistoric skeleton in your living room.

It all kicked off with Jurassic Park in 1993, which sparked the world’s dino obsession. But the real turning point came in 1997 when Sotheby’s auctioned off a T. rex fossil named Sue. She sold for a whopping $8.4 million, making her the most expensive fossil ever sold at the time.

Until then, fossils were prized mainly for their scientific value and only smaller, often damaged pieces were traded occasionally. But Sue was different, a nearly complete skeleton and her sale changed everything. Collectors and investors suddenly realised that fossils weren’t just old bones. They were big ticket items, no different from fine art or rare antiques. And that’s exactly why Sue’s auction is now seen as the moment the dinosaur fossil market went commercial.

Then came the celebrity era. In 2007, actors Nicolas Cage and Leonardo DiCaprio famously got into a bidding war over a Tarbosaurus skull (which is a cousin of the T. rex). Cage won and paid $276,000 for it. Sure, he eventually returned it when it was found to have been illegally exported from Mongolia. But by then, the fossil hype had already spread among the rich and famous.

Cut to today and the luxury fossil market is worth billions of dollars globally, though no one knows the exact size. And while it may seem like harmless collecting, it’s actually a big headache for science.

Because a recent study in Palaeontologia Electronica, a peer reviewed paleontology journal, found that over half of the 141 scientifically useful T. rex fossils are locked away in private collections. That’s a huge loss for research because in science, if other experts can’t study the same specimen, they can’t verify results. That messes with the whole process of building reliable knowledge. What’s worse is that around 20% of these privately held fossils are juveniles or subadults which are coincidentally the rarest and most valuable for understanding how these giants grew and matured.

So, what’s the solution? Should we just ban private fossil trade altogether? Or declare all dinosaur skeletons national property?

While that may sound neat on paper, it could just make things worse. 

Because you see, the fossil trade already has a shady underground. Fossils are often smuggled and sold illegally, especially in parts of Asia, where they’re ground into fine powder and used in traditional Chinese medicine as “dragon bones”. People believe that they have healing powers, like calming nerves or stopping bleeding. So, a strict ban could just push more of the trade into the black market.

On the flip side, allowing private collectors to buy fossils at auctions can sometimes work out.

You could go back to Sue’s auction for a moment. She was nearly 90% complete and discovered by fossil hunter Sue Hendrickson in 1990. But because there were no clear rules about fossil ownership, the excavation sparked a courtroom battle between the landowner, Maurice Williams, and the researchers from the Black Hills Institute who helped dig it up. In the end, Williams won the rights and decided to auction Sue off at Sotheby’s. And that worried scientists. What if Sue disappeared into a private collection, never to be studied again?

Because the thing is, museums simply can’t afford to buy these mammoth fossils at equally mammoth prices. Most of them run on tight budgets, relying on grants and donations to keep going. So when it comes to bidding wars, they’re no match for the deep pockets of private collectors. 

But it wasn’t always like this. Before Sue came along, private landowners often let scientists dig for fossils for free. But once they realised that these bones could be worth a fortune, researchers often found themselves competing with commercial fossil hunters who could pay landowners big money or even a cut of future profits. And once these hunters unearthed a good find, many of them took it straight to auction houses, just like Sue, where the fossils could fetch far more than any museum could hope to pay.

But then something incredible happened. The Field Museum teamed up with McDonald’s, Walt Disney World Resort and some other private donors to raise enough money to buy Sue, ensuring it would stay accessible to the public and scientists instead of being locked in a private collection.

McDonald’s even wanted to create a T. rex themed Happy Meal to promote awareness, but they soon shifted focus, partnering with Disney to support real science education. It went on to develop educational kits for teachers, sponsored a fossil preparation lab and organised travelling exhibits featuring casts of Sue’s skeleton. Disney on the other hand displayed a replica at Animal Kingdom, expanding access even more. And the original Sue ultimately went to the Field Museum, where it became a major attraction and research resource.

But here’s the catch. Not every fossil gets a Sue-style ending.

There’s no law that forces collectors to share fossils with museums or researchers. And like we’ve mentioned earlier, museums simply don’t have deep enough pockets to win bidding wars.

So yeah, maybe the answer is government regulation.

As of now, different countries have different laws. In the US, fossils found on private land belong to the landowner. But in places like China, Canada, Italy, France, Mongolia and Brazil, they’re considered national treasures, no matter who owns the land. 

But maybe it’s time for global standards to solve this. Like setting common standards for excavation and handling, clarifying who owns a fossil once it’s dug up and making sure specimens are available for study or at least ensuring museums can create replicas.

Because without that, we risk losing millions of years of natural history… to living room decor.

Until then…

Fun fact: Even though we’ve been calling Sue a “she” this whole time, scientists still aren’t sure if Sue was actually male or female. So her true identity is still a mystery.

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