[Tanuki for prince? ] The Hong Kong auction of sky-high dinosaur fossils was stopped]
An auction of fossilized tyrannosaur keels scheduled for November 30 in Hong Kong was abruptly announced. Christie's said the reason for the cancellation was the need for "further study". It is reported that some experts have recently questioned the number of replica bones used in this dinosaur fossil, which is different from what the publicity materials refer to.
The 4.6-meter-tall, 12-meter-long, fossilized tyrannosaurus bone, known as Shen, was unearthed in Montana, USA, and is estimated to have lived during the Cretaceous period, about 67 million years ago. Christie's had expected the auction to fetch HK$120 million to HK$200 million, but the New York Times recently reported that an American fossil research company questioned the number of replica fossils used by Shangshen and the authenticity of the description in the promotional materials. The questioning was the Montenegrin Geological Institute, a fossil research company in South Dakota. It is reported that the company's representative lawyer recently contacted Christie's, saying that the skull of "Shangshen" is very similar to another tyrannosaurus bone fossil "Stan" auctioned two years ago.
Larson, the company's president, said in an interview that when he first saw Christie's preparing to auction photos of Shangshen in Hong Kong, he noticed that its skull resembled Stan's skull, including a hole in his left lower jaw. He said the holes were unique to Stan, but similar holes could be found in Shangshin. He said that since the discovery of the Stan fossil in 1992, he and his colleagues have been studying the peculiarities of the Stan skeleton for the past 30 years.
Larson said that in his opinion, it is believed that the owner of the "Shangshin" (Christie's did not give his name) bought a model of "Stan" from the Montenegrin company, and the tanuki was exchanged for a prince to replenish the bones of the "Shangshin". It would be misleading for a company to sell a dinosaur that was not "Stan" for profit.
Some experts estimate that a complete tyrannosaurus keel has at least 300 bones. Dinosaur bone excavations are usually incomplete, and dinosaur bone replicas are often added to build a complete set of dinosaur bones. The auction house claimed that 79 bones of Shangshen were genuine, but claimed that the completeness of the fossils based on bone density was 504%, which experts accused of misleading.
There are very few fossils of tyrannosaurs that have survived, and complete skeletal specimens are even more difficult to find. The skull of the Tyrannosaurus "Stan" was auctioned by Christie's in New York in October 2020 for more than $31.8 million, making it one of the best-preserved skulls of its kind found to date, representing a "rare and important paleontological find."
The massive skull belonged to an adult tyrannosaurus, and although its sex cannot be confirmed, it is estimated to be about 76 million years old. The skull weighs more than 200 pounds ( about 91 kg ) , is about 2 meters long , and still retains most of the skull and teeth. The fossil is expected to be one of the most valuable fossils in Sotheby's' auction houses.
Christie's issued a statement on Sunday, saying that after consultation, it decided to cancel the arrangement of auctioning "Shang Shen" in Hong Kong on the 30th of this month; The auction client also decided to lend "Shangshen" to the museum for public display.
