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Rare Nanotyrannus Skeleton “Jodi” Goes on Display Before Sotheby’s Auction
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Nanotyrannus Fossil “Jodi” Unveiled Ahead of Auction
A nearly complete Nanotyrannus skeleton—nicknamed “Jodi” after its discoverer Jodi Pierson—was placed on public view in the lobby of Sotheby’s headquarters in Manhattan on Tuesday. The specimen will be offered for sale at a Sotheby’s auction scheduled for late October. Standing about 6.5 feet (2 m) tall and nearly 20 feet (6 m) long, the fossil is one of only three known Nanotyrannus skeletons.
Scientific Significance and Rarity
Nanotyrannus, long debated as a juvenile T. rex, was confirmed as a distinct genus in research published in October 2025. Bone-growth analysis showed the individuals were fully mature adults, overturning the view that T. rex was the sole large Cretaceous apex predator. Compared with T. rex, Nanotyrannus possessed longer forelimbs, larger hand claws, and more slender, blade-like teeth adapted for slicing faster prey. The “Jodi” specimen is reported to be almost 70 % complete, with a virtually intact skull and a jaw containing roughly 35 teeth. The other two known skeletons reside at the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, Illinois, and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (the “Bloody Mary” specimen, nearly 100 % complete, is not for sale).
Official Statements
Cassandra Hatton, vice chair at Sotheby’s, highlighted the discovery’s impact: “What’s really exciting is that until they proved this genus existed, we thought that T. rex was the only apex predator of the Cretaceous,” — Cassandra Hatton, a vice chair at Sotheby’s She added that the differing tooth morphology indicates a hunting strategy focused on quicker animals: “Those teeth would slash the meat off of the animal it was hunting. It went after faster prey,” — Cassandra Hatton, a vice chair at Sotheby’s
Market and Auction Details
Sotheby’s bills “Jodi” as the “finest and most complete” Nanotyrannus skeleton currently available. The auction follows a record-setting sale earlier this summer in which Sotheby’s sold a T. rex fossil for $50.1 million. The “Jodi” fossil’s provenance includes a 2020 Discovery Channel documentary, “Dino Hunters,” and it was unearthed on Pierson’s land in 2019, about eight miles (13 km) from the 2006 “Dueling Dinosaurs” find.
Criticism from the Paleontological Community
The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, represented by President Stuart Sumida of California State University, San Bernardino, argues that significant fossils such as “Jodi” should remain in public institutions for research rather than be sold privately, labeling the claim that private diggers are essential to science as “a blatant lie.” The society continues to advocate for legislation that would restrict the commercial sale of scientifically important specimens.