![]() “Shen itself has been fully digitalized,” he told CNN at a press conference. “While certainly there is no law in the US that supports this for fossils that come off private land, it’s easy for me as a scientist to argue that that fossil is important to all of us, and really ought to be going into a public repository where it can be studied - where the public at large can learn from it and enjoy it.” David Polly, a professor and chair of the department of earth and atmospheric sciences at Indiana University Bloomington, told CNN earlier this year, when Sotheby’s sold the skeleton of a Gorgosaurus, a relative of the T. ![]() “In my own opinion, there are only cons,” P. Paleontologists have also argued that potential commercial gains discourage landowners from giving professional researchers access to fossil sites. Since the first dinosaur auction 25 years ago, sales of large fossils have courted controversy, with experts worried that housing specimens in private collections can make them unavailable for scientific study. rex specimens, we don’t have anything against auctions, but we do want people to be true and fair,” he added. “We don’t have anything against people selling T. Larson said he is in touch with Shen’s current owner in order “to make sure this doesn’t happen again.” ![]() “They pulled it from the auction, which … is what they should have done.” “I do not necessarily blame Christie’s for this,” Larson said. Stunning paleoart shows what dinosaurs really looked likeīoth Santangelo and Larson told CNN the changes didn’t go far enough toward addressing their concerns but added that Christie’s had done the right thing by withdrawing the skeleton from auction. A later version of Christie’s press release acknowledges that Shen includes “Stan elements” purchased from the Black Hills Institute. He added that Christie’s later responded with proposed revisions to its condition report. Luke Santangelo, a lawyer representing the Black Hills Institute, told CNN he contacted Christie’s in late September and that the auction house was receptive to his concerns. Larson said that buyers who were unaware that Shen contained casts based on Stan would thus be “at risk” of intellectual property conflicts with the organization. The Black Hills Institute, which sells full polyurethane casts of Stan for $120,000, was concerned that the auction house’s catalog listing may be misleading potential bidders. The spokesperson added that Christie’s “conducts research at the highest standard in the auction business on all objects we offer for sale,” and that it “remains committed to the fossil category and to our standards of research and presentation for sale.” We believe the original elements of Shen are authentic.” rex skeleton extant that is entirely made up of original bones. While Christie’s declined to address the specifics of Larson’s claims or its reasons for canceling the sale, a spokesperson told CNN via email: “There is no T. Then Chih Wey/Xinhua/Getty ImagesĪccording to a Christie’s press release issued in September, Shen’s skeleton is “museum standard.” In a since-removed page on its website, the auction house stated that the specimen, which measures 43 feet long and 16 feet tall, is 54% complete “based on bone density.” Visitors look at the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex named Shen at the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall in Singapore on Oct. rex known as Stan - a skeleton his organization holds intellectual property rights to after selling it via Christie’s for a record $31.8 million in 2020. ![]() But paleontologist Peter Larson, president of the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in South Dakota, believes Shen was predominantly built with replica parts from a T. It is common practice for dinosaur skeletons to be partially reconstructed using casts of other specimens, in addition to original bone, to make them appear whole. It was poised to fetch between $15 million and $25 million, according to auction house estimates. Touted as the highlight of Christie’s upcoming Hong Kong sales, Shen was set to become the first T. In a statement provided to CNN on Monday, the British auction house said the unidentified seller will instead loan the skeleton, which is nicknamed Shen, to a museum. Christie’s has withdrawn a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton from sale, with just days to go until the historic auction, after a paleontologist said the fossil largely comprises copyrighted replica bones from another specimen.
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