Trade in T. rex remains hampers research
A new study reveals that more Tyrannosaurus rex fossils are now in private hands than in public museums, limiting research on the iconic dinosaur’s growth and biology.
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A new study has found that fewer Tyrannosaurus rex fossils are available for scientific study as wealthy individuals purchase them for private collections. Dinosaur fossils are a popular exhibit at many high-end auctions, where nearly complete skeletons sell for tens of millions of dollars. But the private trade in T. rex specimens may be hindering researchers from understanding the iconic Cretaceous predator, a study has found, Live Science has reported.
T. rex researcher Thomas Carr, an associate professor of biology at Carthage College and director of the Carthage Institute of Paleontology in Wisconsin, has shown that there are now more scientifically valuable T. rex specimens in private or commercial ownership than in state museums and other public holdings. Carr reported that the situation was “confused and frustrating,” and noted that the possession of juveniles and immature specimens was of particular concern.
The impact of the private market on the number of fossils
“The early stages of T. rex growth are the ones that suffer the most from poor fossils, so their loss carries the heaviest scientific costs,” Carr said. “At this point, our knowledge of one of the most fundamental aspects of T. rex biology is disappointingly compromised by market interests.” To better understand the impact of the private market on the number of T. rex fossils available to researchers, Carr selected what he called “scientifically informative” specimens—skulls, skeletons, and isolated bones that researchers would include in studies of the development and variation of T. rex. Carr counted “informative” specimens in public and private ownership by poring over books, museum records, news articles, auction records, anecdotal reports, and other sources. He found a total of 61 specimens in public holdings and 71 specimens, including 14 juveniles, in private ownership—a likely underestimate, given the “secretive nature” of the private market and the number of new specimens discovered each year, according to the study.
Commercial specimens sometimes end up in public museums, either on loan or after being acquired by the museum. But Carr found that only 11 percent of commercially mined T. rex fossils end up in government collections, and that commercial companies are now uncovering twice as many T. rex fossils as museums. Carr also noted that private dinosaur sales are not limited to T. rex. The luxury fossil market includes all dinosaur species—the most expensive ever sold was a stegosaurus, which sold at auction for $44.6 million in 2024 (it’s currently on loan to the American Museum of Natural History in New York). Carr hopes his study will inspire other researchers to investigate how the commercial market affects other ancient species, as he did for T. rex. “I hope that concerned colleagues will start counting and publishing specimens of species they study that are lost to the commercial market,” Carr said.
Researchers React to T. rex Trade
Thomas Holtz Jr., a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Maryland, has studied changes in Tyrannosaurus as it grew, and said it was “disappointing” to learn that many critical specimens that would help clarify those changes are unavailable. “I’m concerned, like Carr, not only that there are good specimens that are not available to researchers, but especially that there is an overrepresentation of juveniles and immature specimens in commercial specimens,” Holtz said.
David Hawn, a zoology professor at Queen Mary University of London, told Live Science that while he would like to see more specimens in public collections, he wasn’t as concerned about the trade in T. rex fossils as Carr was. “First of all, there’s not much that can really be done about the commercial trade in these things,” Hawn said. “And while I would certainly like to see more specimens in public collections, there is still a lot to be studied. There are rarer and more important things being traded illegally that I would be more concerned about,” he said, referring to Brazilian and Mongolian fossils, including dinosaurs, that are being smuggled out of their countries.
