A 67-million-year-old T. rex named ‘Gus’ is heading to Sotheby’s with a $30m estimate, making it one of the most valuable dinosaur fossils ever auctioned.
Sotheby’s will auction ‘Gus,’ a colossal 67-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex fossil, in July with an estimated value between $20m to $30m.
Tyrannosaurus rex has long captured the public imagination as one of history’s most fearsome apex predators. Roaming western North America during the Late Cretaceous period, the species possessed an enormous skull, a devastating bite force, and an acute sense of smell. Decades after their extinction, T. rex dinosaurs continue to dominate popular culture through films, television, and museum exhibitions worldwide.
Far from an ordinary T. rex, ‘Gus’ ranks among the largest and most complete specimens ever discovered. The fossil consists of 183 preserved bone elements, making it approximately 63 percent complete overall. Its immense skull alone measures 53 inches and retains around 82 percent of its original bone structure. Paleontologists also recovered exceptionally preserved ft, a reconstructed pelvis, and the rare furcula, or wishbone. Standing roughly 12 and a half ft tall, with a femur stretching more than 50 inches, it offers an extraordinary glimpse into one of prehistory’s most formidable predators.
“Gus is the culmination of years of rigorous excavation and preparation under some of the most challenging field conditions imaginable, and years of exacting study, documentation, and research,” said Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s vice chairman and worldwide head of science and natural history. “Tyrannosaurus rex is the most iconic pre-historic species in the fossil record, and Gus stands firmly among the greatest examples ever found.”
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The story behind the fossil’s discovery is just as remarkable as the dinosaur itself. In 2021, paleontologists from Theropoda Expeditions began excavations in Harding County, South Dakota, on land owned by rancher Gary ‘Gus’ Licking, for whom the specimen is named. Licking had spent years uncovering small bones and fossilized teeth on his property and suspected something much larger was buried beneath the surface. His instincts proved correct: the excavation team located the T. rex exactly where he had suggested they begin searching.
Recovering the fossil was a painstaking process that stretched over several years. Excavation alone took three years, followed by another three years dedicated to preparing and extracting the bones.
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“This specimen took three years to excavate – with the team sometimes working for weeks straight without finding a thing,” explained Thomas Heitkamp, president of Theropoda Expeditions and the discoverer of ‘Gus’. “The site was a complex fossil bed and preserved many fossils of the flora and fauna that comprised the larger Cretaceous ecosystem. We documented each stage with quarry maps, inventories, and collection data. In the end, our diligence paid off and we were delighted to discover what turned out to be a huge and incredibly complete T. rex specimen.”
Heitkamp described the reconstruction process as both demanding and rewarding. “It really does feel like tackling the world’s hardest puzzle, except we have to find all the pieces first,” he said. “All those bones separated for 67 million years that we can now, almost magically, fit back together. There’s something deeply satisfying about that.”
For Dana Licking, wife of the late Gary Licking, witnessing the journey of ‘Gus’ from discovery to public exhibition has been deeply meaningful. “It has been an amazing opportunity to follow a discovery as significant as ‘Gus’ from start to finish,” she said. “Seeing the dedication of the team, working hard together to preserve every detail has been both phenomenal and enlightening. Few people know what it takes to bring a specimen of this magnitude to the public.”
Sotheby’s has played a major role in the history of dinosaur auctions. In 1997, the auction house sold ‘Sue,’ the first T. rex ever offered at auction. More recently, the stegosaurus ‘Apex’ shattered records when it sold for $45m in 2024. Now, ‘Gus’, expected to fetch around $30m, will continue that legacy when it arrives in New York ahead of Sotheby’s Natural History Auction on July 14. The fossil will go on public display at Sotheby’s Breuer gallery beginning July 1.
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