T. rex auction cancelled after skeleton doubts raised

A T. rex skeleton which was expected to fetch up to $25m (£21m) astatine auction has been withdrawn aft doubts were raised implicit wherever parts of it had travel from.

Auction location Christie's confirmed to the BBC that the Tyrannosaurus Rex would not beryllium amongst the tons going nether the hammer successful Hong Kong connected 30 November.

It said the seller had decided to indebtedness the skeleton to a depository instead.

Christie's did not springiness a crushed wherefore the merchantability had been withdrawn.

The New York Times reports that a US fossil institution raised concerns that parts of the skeleton, named Shen, looked similar replicas from different T. rex skeleton called Stan.

The Black Hills Institute holds the intelligence spot rights to Stan, meaning it is allowed to merchantability replicas, with casts costing $120,000.

However, its president, Peter Larson, told the NYT that parts of Shen looked akin to parts of Stan. When helium saw photos of Shen, helium told the newspaper, helium noticed the skull looked similar Stan's, and said it had similar, unsocial holes successful its jaw.

Mr Larson told the paper that helium thought Shen's proprietor - who has not been identified - had bought a Stan replica and utilized the bones to implicit the Shen skeleton.

"They're utilizing Stan to merchantability a dinosaur that's not Stan," Mr Larson said successful an interrogation with the outlet earlier the merchantability was called off. "It's precise misleading."

The paper reports Mr Larson said Christie's had "done the close thing" successful calling disconnected the auction.

It says that a lawyer for Mr Larson contacted Christie's, saying that the auction location had not made wide that parts of the skeleton were casts from Stan. After this, the paper reported, the online listing was changed to read: "Replica bones that were added to archetypal bones (referred to arsenic STAN™ elements) were created by, and purchased from, Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, Inc." The auction house's catalogue is besides said to person confirmed that nary of Shen's teeth are original. The listing has since been taken down and the BBC was incapable to corroborate what it said.

Christie's said 80 of Shen's bones were original. According to Chicago's Field Museum - 1 of the largest earthy past museums successful the satellite - a T. rex would person had astir 380 bones successful its body. It added that discoveries of implicit dinosaur skeletons were precise rare.

Shen, who weighs 1.4 tonnes, and is 4.6m (15ft) gangly and 12m long, was discovered successful the US authorities of Montana and is thought to person been an big antheral who lived astir 67m years ago.

He was estimated to fetch betwixt $15m and $25m had helium gone up for sale. Stan was auctioned by Christie's successful 2020 and went for $31.8m.

Sales of dinosaur bones tin rake successful millions, but person been criticised by experts who accidental they often extremity up successful backstage collections, distant from researchers.