A rare Martian meteorite named NWA 16788 was sold at an auction in New York for over $5 million, but a young dinosaur skeleton stole the show with its record-breaking sale price of over $30 million. The 54-pound rock is one of only four known Ceratosaurus nasicornis skeletons and features nearly 140 fossil bones.
The meteorite was discovered in Niger’s Sahara Desert in November 2023 after being blasted off Mars by an asteroid strike, traveling 140 million miles to reach Earth. It represents about 7% of all Martian material currently on the planet.
In contrast, the dinosaur skeleton is a rare juvenile specimen of Ceratosaurus nasicornis, resembling Tyrannosaurus rex but smaller. Bidding for the skeleton started at $6 million and escalated to over $26 million before reaching its final sale price of $30.5 million.
The sale was part of Sotheby’s Geek Week 2025, featuring 122 items including other meteorites, fossils, and gem-quality minerals. The identity of both buyers remains undisclosed.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/mars-rock-meteorite-auction-dinosaur-sothebys-01d7ccfc8dc580ad86f8e97a305fc8fa