What science loses when ‘T. rex’ becomes a trophy

On July 14, 2026, “Gus,” one of the most complete specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex, went to an as yet unidentified buyer for US$50.1 million. This auction at Sotheby’s set a record for most valuable fossil ever sold. Another dinosaur has entered the luxury collectibles market, a reminder that even Earth’s deepest history can be sold to the highest bidder. To paleontologists like me, however, a fossil like “Gus” – excavated from the Hell Creek Formation in South Dakota over three years starting in…