Sotheby’s may have been hoping that the dinosaur skeleton known as “Jodi” was, in fact, a youthful T. rex, given the name recognition and resulting price tags that have accompanied this species of sought-after dinosaur.
Instead, the auction house’s latest high-profile specimen is a Nanotyrannus, a mid-size tyrannosaurid genus that, according to Artnet, had previously been for sale for $20 million at Frieze Masters in 2023. At the time, the skeleton was called “Chomper” and was being sold by the London gallery David Aaron. According to a statement from Sotheby’s, “Jodi” is one of only three known Nanotyrannus specimens.
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Named for Jodi Pierson, the rancher who discovered the fossil on her land in Montana in 2019, “Jodi” is the first Nanotyrannus to be put up for sale at auction since the new genus was confirmed in a study published in Nature magazine last fall. The Nature article, which refers to “Jodi” as NCSM 40000, further identifies two subspecies of Nanotyrannus: N. lancensis and Nanotyrannus lethaeus, and spells out many morphological differences, for example, Nanotyrannus’s longer limbs, bigger claws, additional teeth, and smaller overall body compared to the T. rex.
“Jodi’s” $8 million-$9 million estimate quite a bit less than the record-breaking hammer price of “Gus,” a 67-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton that sold at Sotheby’s three months ago. The 20-foot-long skeleton will be on view for two weeks at Sotheby’s galleries in the Breuer Building starting on October 13 until the live sale on October 27.
