Auctions

Jodi the Nanotyrannus Nets $47.3M at Auction, Crushing Its Estimate

It is now the second most expensive fossil to sell at auction.

Close up of Jodi. Photo: courtesy Matthew Sherman/Sotheby's.

by Richard Whiddington Oct 27, 2026

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Call it a science-mandated rebrand. In 2023, a menacing dinosaur skeleton towered over visitors at Frieze London . It was billed as Chomper , a juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex, and slapped with a $20 million price tag. Three years and one paleontology paper later, that same specimen is named Jodi , classified as a Nanotyrannus, and just sold at Sotheby’s New York for $47.3 million—more than five times its high estimate of $9 million.

The auction saw six bidders battle it out for the fossil over 12 minutes, with the hammer price (with fees) now making it the second most expensive dinosaur specimen to sell at auction. Gus , the T.…