Commercial organizations are discovering twice as many Tyrannosaurus fossils as museums, according to recent data. (Image courtesy of LG-Photography via Getty Images)
A new study suggests that Tyrannosaurus rex fossils are becoming increasingly difficult to access for scientific analysis as they are snapped up by wealthy collectors.
Dinosaur fossils are in high demand at high-profile auctions, with nearly complete skeletons selling for tens of millions of dollars. However, private sales of T. rex specimens could make it harder for scientists to understand the famous Cretaceous predator, a study has found.
T. rex researcher Thomas Carr, an associate professor of biology at Carthage College and director of the Carthage Institute of Paleontology in Wisconsin, noted that there are currently more scientifically significant T. rex specimens in private or commercial ownership than in public museums and other government institutions. Carr told Live Science via email that the situation is “frustrating and frustrating,” adding that the ownership of juvenile and subadult specimens is of particular concern.
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