By: Nina Huang

Have you ever seen a T-Rex skeleton? Looks pretty scary, right? Imagine being kicked by one! I’m tellin’ ya: you ain’t walking back. But imagine a killer dinosaur even faster and stronger than a T-Rex. OK, you can stop imagining now, because a dinosaur was discovered that is mightier than the infamous T-Rex. Reckon you haven’t heard of Gorgosaurus, right? Let me tell you all about this discovery.

Gorgosaurus?

Intros first, right? This dinosaur was similar to T-Rex, but smaller. It roamed the Earth about 77 million years ago. Paleontologists have told us that the Gorgosaurus was more intimidating and faster than T-Rex, with a much stronger bite of 42,000 newtons (force) compared to the 35,000-newton bite of a T-Rex. “The skeleton was discovered in the Judith River Formation near Havre, in the U.S. state of Montana in 2018,” Kids News said.

The Auction

Sadly, this fossilized dinosaur skeleton was sold at an auction. The skeleton sold for a huge amount of money between $5 million and $8 million. “All of the other specimens of Gorgosaurus that have been found are in museums,” said Sotheby’s head of science and popular culture, Cassandra Hatton, before the auction took place. “This is the only one that you can actually buy, so it’s an exciting moment, both for private collectors and institutions.” The U.S. doesn’t restrict shipping, which meant that this skeleton, once purchased, could end up anywhere in the world. The dinosaur’s name was Stan, and Stan’s buyer was anonymous, so after he was bought, researchers were very worried and concerned about where Stan might be situated by now. In March, Stan was said to be residing in a museum in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates.

Well, if you were a billionaire with enough spare money to purchase Stan’s skeleton, would you keep the fossil at home or put him in a museum?