Internet private collectors auction of the fossil of a baby dinosaur aged 68 million years

Someone put the sell the fossil d & # 39; a Tyrannosaurus rex baby in eBay, generate disorders in the paleontologist community. According to the announcement, the bones belong to a baby dinosaur "only in existence".

"Most likely, it's the only one T-Rex Baby in the world! It has a long 15-foot body and a 21-inch skull with serrated teeth! This one Rex was a carnivore very dangerous. This is a rare opportunity that you can see a REX baby … ", says the message on the web portal.

According to the British newspaper The Guardian, the skeleton It is about 68 million years old and was discovered in 2013 on private lands in Montana, United States. Alan Detrich, professional hunter fossils, He discovered it and stayed with it.

In 2017, Detrich lent the fossil to Museum of Natural History of the University of Kansaswhere he was always exposed when suddenly he made the decision to auction it off.

His decision has provoked criticisms from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) for taking a copy of an important species that does not enter the field of application of the scientific studiesand submit it to online sales, acting as a showcase for professional buyers.

The badysis of this skeleton could help solve a big debate that the scientific community has had for years, as far as the small Tyrannosaurus Rex who have lived in North America are babies or should have a separate clbadification of Nanotyrannus.

If the fossil is bought by an individual and ends with a private collection, Such an investigation may be impossible to conduct.

In an open letter published last week, members of the Society of Paleontology regretted that the fossil has been exposed and put on sale before being able to badyze it.

"This action, which has attracted the attention of the fossil to hundreds, even thousands of visitors, has potentially improved its commercial valuethey write. " Museums rarely have the budget to purchase privately collected specimens more and more expensive"they added.

Agree with The Guardian, the University of Kansas stated that it was unaware of Detrich's plans regarding sell the skeleton at auction.

In a statement, the director of the Museum of Natural History at the University of Kansas, Leonard KrishtalkaHe said that the exhibition had already been removed and that the fossil had been returned to Detrich.

The sample "was not studied for publication by researchers from the University of Kansas. We are studying our own T. rex juvenile sample, which was presented at the annual meetings of the Executive Vice President held last year in Albuquerque, "he wrote.

So far, no one has shown interest in paying the price charged by Detrich, who has initial price in USD 2.950 million. However, the article was searched by several people.