A team led by Larson unearthed and restored another Tyrannosaurus named Stan and creates replicas of what some call the world's second-finest T. rex fossil. Stan's fossilized bones were found by amateur paleontologist Stan Sacrison in the Hell Creek Formation near Buffalo, South Dakota in 1987. After a public feud and lawsuit the first Stan was awarded to Pete's brother, Neal who then teamed up with geologist Walter W. Stein Bill.
A Triceratops fossil was unearthed from the Hell Creek Formation in 2015 and restored in Italy then sold for $7.7 million.
In 2019 a replica of Stan was moved from the lobby of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science to Farmington to make room for Albuquerque's new Bisti Beast exhibit. The original Stan sold for nearly $32 million in 2020 to an anonymous buyer and today is in a museum in Abu Dhabi.
Pete Larson has since co-authored and published findings from a study of the effects the Chicxulub asteroid impact had on Laramidia after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction and on the Hell Creek Formation near Tanis, North Dakota. But in November, auction house Christie's withdrew a T-rex skeleton from an event after experts, including Larson noticed just 79 original bones and over 200 cast from Stan in the fossil known as Shen which was excavated from a portion of the Hell Creek Formation in McCone County, Montana.
After a lawyer for Larson reached out to Christie’s with their concerns, the auction house added a note to its online auction materials, noting “replica bones that were added to original bones (referred to as STAN™ elements) were created by, and purchased from, Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, Inc.” [Christie’s Pulled a $25 Million T-Rex Skeleton From Auction After Experts Pointed Out That Most of Its Bones Are Replicas]
A thin layer of iridium, an element found in the Chicxulub bolide or impactor and separates the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods can be found near Raton, New Mexico.
Today, a sixth mass extinction is underway but this time humanity is the asteroid.
If dinosaur fossils are being excavated from unceded lands in Indian Country why aren't the proceeds from their sales being shared with Native Nations?
As they say in Wisconsin, “this Stan is turning the corner around!” pic.twitter.com/TBEOKRCKt7
— Pete Larson (@PeteLarsonTrex) May 7, 2021
I’m not sure why it makes me feel some sort of way when these graves are dug up. I like the history they tell us, but the greed almost ruins it. Especially perturbing is the discovery of the acropolis dug up in Egypt. Queen Neith’s undocumented pyramid is an exciting find and all but the grave robbers’ exploitation of something hidden for the afterlife is sort of sensitive and almost feels wrong, like leave her alone! Stop disturbing her rest and molesting her. But thats crazy of me.
ReplyDeleteDigging anything in Indian Country is iffy with the risk of disturbing gravesites. States, counties and even pipeline companies usually hire archaeologists before equipment begins excavation.
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