A rare Nanotyrannus skeleton sold at a New York auction for $47.3 million. The fossil, named Jodi, got sold by Sotheby’s after a 12-minute bidding war. While the sale showed high interest, expert Thomas R Holtz Jr said, "potentially scientifically significant fossils could be lost to research and public access."

A rare Nanotyrannus skeleton, a smaller relative of the Tyrannosaurus rex, has been sold at auction in New York for a whopping $47.3 million. The sale was conducted by Sotheby's after a fierce 12-minute bidding war with six bidders participating online and over the phone. The fossil, dubbed Jodi after its discoverer Jodi Pierson, who unearthed it in 2019, is now one of the world's most expensive fossils.

Initially, Sotheby's estimated the skeleton would fetch between $6 million and $9 million.

However, the final bid exceeded all expectations, making Jodi the second most valuable dinosaur ever sold at auction.

The buyer's identity remains undisclosed.

Discovered by Pierson on her private land in Montana's Hell Creek Formation near Jordan, Jodi is one of only three substantial Nanotyrannus skeletons known to science.

The Nanotyrannus skeleton measures 19.6 feet long from nose to tail and stands about 9.6 feet tall on the armature, comprising around 191 fossil bone elements.

Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby's Vice Chair and Global Head of Science and Natural History, emphasized the team's dedication to excavating and preserving Jodi.

She said their commitment has been instrumental in bringing this remarkable specimen to market, highlighting its scientific importance.

Sotheby's described the Nanotyrannus as a fast, specialized carnivorous tyrannosaurid that lived alongside Tyrannosaurus rex at the end of the Cretaceous period, about 67 million years ago.

The auction house also noted that while some once thought it to be an adolescent T. rex, studies have shown over 150 morphological differences distinguishing it from its much larger cousin.

The sale and price of the fossil have drawn criticism from some in the scientific community.

Thomas R Holtz Jr, a vertebrate paleontology expert at the University of Maryland, expressed concerns about such multimillion-dollar fossil sales.

He argued that potentially scientifically significant fossils like Jodi could be lost to research and public access when they are privately owned.