Nanotyrannus named Jodi needs a new home (if you have $9M)

Almost one year ago, paleontologists finally settled a longstanding debate about Tyrannosaurus rex, arguably Earth’s most famous dinosaur. After reviewing decades of mounting evidence, researchers documented around 150 morphological differences across multiple supposed juvenile T. rex skeletons. Instead of young dinosaurs, these were actually adult examples of an entirely separate species now known as Nanotyrannus lancensis.

While Nanotyrannus was dwarfed by its massive relative, it still reached an impressive 18 feet long and weighed as much as 1,500 pounds. But while it may have lost some of its cultural cache during the rebrand, a well-preserved specimen nicknamed Jodi may still sell for upwards of $9 million at an upcoming auction.

“It completely changes what we understand about the Cretaceous,” Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s head of science and natural history, said during a recent interview.

Jodi the Nanotyrannus: The Dino That Settled One of The Biggest Paleontological Debates | Sotheby’s

Paleontologists first suspected the existence of a separate species after discovering a uniquely proportioned skull at Montana’s Hell Creek Formation in 1946. Back-and-forth arguments about the dinosaur’s true identity continued for the next 80 years, but the ramifications weren’t simply a matter of semantics. If confirmed, it meant T. rex wasn’t the only tyrannosauroid roaming North America during the late Cretaceous period.

Jodi is a relatively new find. Named after the Montana rancher who found it, Jodi Pierson, the skeleton was excavated at the Hell Creek Formation in 2019, and is estimated to be about 55 percent complete. It features all four of its claws as well as 35 teeth in a nearly complete skull. According to the Sotheby’s auction listing, Jodi stands about 6.5 feet tall and measures 19.6 feet from nose to tail. The mounted dinosaur includes all of its surviving fossilized bones along with 3D-printed and sculpted additions to fill in the paleontological gaps.

Jodi will officially go up for auction on October 27 in New York City, where she is expected to sell for $6–8 million. The final price may still surprise bidders, however. In July, auctioneers estimated that a nearly complete T. rex named Gus would sell for $30 million. Gus blew that out of the water, ultimately fetching over $50 million.