Conor here: From the Mesozoic to the modern, the privatization of the commons is accelerating. “Data is the new fuel,” after all.
SAM ALTMAN: “WE SEE A FUTURE WHERE INTELLIGENCE IS A WORKER, LIKE ELECTRICITY OR WATER, AND PEOPLE BUY FROM US BY THE METER.” pic.twitter.com/AXnZ9zh0Ro
— Vivek Sen (@Vivek4real_) May 25, 2026
Kristi Curry Rogers, DeWitt Wallace Professor of Biology and Geology, Macalester College. Originally published on The Conversation.
On July 14, 2026, “Gus,” one of the most complete specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex, went to an anonymous buyer for 50.1 US dollars. This auction in Suthwini recorded the history of the most valuable fossils 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.
For archaeologists like me, however, fossils like “Gus” — excavated from the Hell Creek Formation in South Dakota over three years starting in 2021 by commercial collector Thomas Heitkamp and his team — are not a trophy or a work of art. It is an archive of replacement science. Fossils preserve evidence of evolution, extinction, growth, disease, injury and primitive nature. Limited, irreplaceable records of the history of life on Earth.
Science relies on independent verification of claims and healthy debate. Researchers must be able to revisit models, test previous conclusions and ask new questions.
But when a scientifically important fossil enters a private collection, access to researchers is no longer guaranteed. Collectors often take their remains to their homes. Even when private individuals’ specimens are on loan to museums, owners can change their minds and end access at any time. This issue is particularly notable when it comes to Tyrannosaurus rex; A 2025 study found that while there were remains of T. rex 61 in public trusts at the time, 71 were privately held.
That’s why the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, of which I am a long-time member and president-elect, has long argued that scientifically important vertebrate fossils are part of the public trust, selected for permanent preservation by museums and universities, made available for research and shared with the public.
Finding a Fossil
Proponents of commercial fossil sales often argue that without sales to private collectors, specimens like “Gus” will remain buried or eroded. They’re right about one thing: Adoption is important. Many rare fossils have been found by ranchers, climbers, amateur collectors and commercial archaeologists. Paleontology is accessible to anyone with an eye for nature – you don’t need to be an expert with an academic degree to get the basics.
But discovery is just the beginning. The importance of fossils to science depends on careful documentation of where they were found, the rocks that surround them, and the plants and animals that are preserved around them. That information allows scientists to reconstruct ancient ecosystems, understand how the animal lived and died, and explain how its remains became fossilized. If that background information is incomplete or missing, a great deal of fossil science is lost.
Yet even the discovery, mining and publication do little to shake the importance of fossil science. The biggest gains in specimen science often come decades later, when researchers ask new questions and use new technologies that previous generations never imagined. A template that appears fully readable today may reveal new information tomorrow, but only if it is still available for reading.
Delayed Discovery
Consider iconic dinosaurs, including T. rex, Triceratops, Diplodocus and Stegosaurus, first collected more than a century ago. Early paleontologists could describe their shapes but had no way to dig deep enough to peer inside the bones. Because those specimens were preserved in museum collections, later generations were able to revisit them with technology that did not exist when they were discovered.
A small non-destructive CT scan of the fibula of an infant specimen of Rapetosaurus, a long-necked titanosaur. Kristina Curry Rogers
Paleontologist Larry Witmer and his collaborators at Ohio University began using CT images 20 years ago to reconstruct the internal anatomy of dinosaur fossils without damaging them, based on the way X-rays travel through the specimens. Brain cavities, inner ears, air spaces, nerves and blood vessels began to be seen, revealing how dinosaurs measured, heard, smelled and saw their world.
Henry Fricke, Thomas Cullen and other geochemists used isotopic signatures preserved in fossil teeth and eggshells to reconstruct dinosaur diets, migration patterns and body temperatures. This research has revealed how dinosaurs lived: what they ate, how they moved in ancient places, and even how warm their bodies were.
Recently, molecular paleontologist Jasmina Wiemann and her collaborators have found chemical traces preserved in fossil bones, eggshells and skin that reveal aspects of dinosaur biology that were unimaginable even a generation ago. Until now, paleontologists had no way of knowing details about metabolic and reproductive rates or the colors of skin, feathers and eggs.
A small section of a Diplodocus femur reveals a small amount of bone structure, preserving a record of the animal’s growth and life history. Kristina Curry Rogers
In my research I use a microscope to reveal the hidden stories stored inside dinosaur bones and teeth. Thin sections of fossilized bones reveal that dinosaurs evolved as mammals and birds rather than as large reptiles. Invisible fixation on the bones captures the traces of ancient animals, and small signatures inside the bones of baby dinosaurs indicate the time of hatching.
None of these discoveries would have been possible if the early fossils had disappeared into inaccessible private collections.
Shared Natural Resources, Block Auction
Fossils are not static objects whose scientific value ends once they are defined. Their number is increasing as science advances, but only if future researchers can continue to examine the original specimens.
Of course, sometimes dinosaur fossils are rescued from obscurity by being bought and quickly deposited or donated to natural history museums. Some of the most important dinosaur fossils in the world are accessible today because people, companies or organizations with the means to find rare specimens have realized that they are a place where scientists can continue to study and where future generations can learn from.
Buying a fossil to place permanently in a public trust is very different from acquiring it as a private collection: One expands access, the other leaves access uncertain.
But as prices for fossils soar into the billions, museums are increasingly unable to compete. The most important relics no longer reliably enter public collections. Instead, they become luxury goods whose market value exceeds their scientific value.
Dinosaurs are part of our shared natural heritage. They inspire wonder because they connect us all to a world unimaginably older than our own. For me, the question raised by auctions like the July 14 “Gus” one is not who can own these relics of the past. Whether future generations have the opportunity to learn and learn from them.
