Tyrannosaurus to be Sold at an Auction in Hong Kong

[Bread]

I was surprised to not have seen this posted. Unless of course I missed this.
Another skeleton that will eventually be lost to science...
https://www.livescience.com/tyrannosaurus-rex-shen-auction

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

It's sad to see it there. Hopefully it sees a reputable museum and doesn't end up like other high-profile dinosaur sales we've seen lately. The Natural History Museum in London would be a nice home for it since they don't have a tyrannosaurus yet-- but that's just wishful thinking at this point.

[Duna]

54% of skeleton. And claims to have a complete skull 

Shen is 54% represented when measured by bone density, which makes it one of the most important T.rex specimens ever discovered."
Osteological details such as muscle scars; and pathologies including bite marks and osteoarthritis. Approximately 79 bones mounted with additional cast elements, on frame mounted into an anatomically accurate hunting pose.

It was excavated in 2020 and mounted this year! That's quick!

[Duna]

.

[Faelrin]

Absolutely unfortunate, and possibly another causality of an ever growing disgusting practice (and shame on everyone who continues to support it). While one would hope it would go to a museum it wouldn't shock me to see it go to some rich person's private collection yet again, to be used as a status symbol, and nothing more. It's definitely anti-science as well, since it prevents anything new to be learned from it, never mind the public that should be able to enjoy these important finds as well (which in turn supports the museums that hold them, and the employees within). Every specimen is important to understanding the species, and the variation within it, especially one with decent remains like this.

Who knows though, Stan did end up back in a museum thankfully I suppose (though I don't know if it would be studied there), so hopefully this has the same fate, or preferably not in a private collector's hands at all.

[andrewsaurus rex]

i'm not familiar with Shen.  Where and how was it discovered?

[suspsy]

I'm always revolted by these stories.

[DinoToyForum]

54% of skeleton. And claims to have a complete skull 

Shen is 54% represented when measured by bone density, which makes it one of the most important T.rex specimens ever discovered."
Osteological details such as muscle scars; and pathologies including bite marks and osteoarthritis. Approximately 79 bones mounted with additional cast elements, on frame mounted into an anatomically accurate hunting pose.

It was excavated in 2020 and mounted this year! That's quick!

"when measured by bone density". I'm not sure how they'd calculate that, or how useful a metric it is. In terms of density, a single femur bone might be about equivalent to every bone in the skull and mandible combined. Maybe more. So, you might very quickly begin to approach the stated 54% completeness figure just by including both femora and some of the other beefier bones. Density also doesn't account for quality, since you might have a high volume of damaged, scrappy, or  unidentified material.

I know from studying 'Titus' that "completeness" is difficult to calculate and controversial, especially in the fossil trade where it 'matters'.

[EmperorDinobot]

Ah, the rich flexing on us once again, reminding us of our place.

[Concavenator]

These people don't seem to realize that by doing that, they're hindering our knowledge on the very creatures they are supposedly interested in. This shouldn't even be legal. Disgusting.

[andrewsaurus rex]

Is it not true, however, that many fossil discoveries are made by people looking to make a lot of money on them?  And were it not for the financial incentive, most of those discoveries would never be made?  While I agree it's far from ideal, at least more is discovered than otherwise would be, because of the fossil trade and some of those discoveries do end up in museums or at least are able to be examined by scientists, even if only briefly.

So does not the fossil trade, though far from ideal, result in a net positive to the science?  I wish it was a perfect world too, where all these discoveries would be made and freely handed over to scientists, but that's not the way the world works, unfortunately.  If laws were passed and incentive taken away, many bones would stay buried in the earth, undiscovered, because far fewer eyes would be searching for them.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

A @andrewsaurus Certainly. I have friends who have contributed to science and sell specimens that aren't scientifically important. Though in those cases, I would say that their motivation isn't profit but rather their own passion for fossil collecting. One in particular was a completely new form of life and a possible link between starfish and earlier echinoderms. In his case though, he donates the specimens that are scientifically important and sells the rest of his finds. That one ended up in London's Natural History Museum. Citizen scientists have always benefitted the field, but I believe that significant finds like this tyrannosaurus should end up in a reputable institution.

[Bread]

Just found out that Shen will not be auxtioned off afterall.

Either a slight hiccup or this specimen will never be auctioned (for the time being). The specimen was found to be questioned of the actual amount of authentic bones the specimen had. Now, this can be taken as a small win, but is it also a loss due to the specimen having possible false remains?