A rare Nanotyrannus skeleton known as Jodi has gone on public display in New York ahead of an October 27, 2026 auction at Sotheby’s, where it is projected to sell for between $6 million and $9 million. The 6.5-foot-tall and nearly 20-foot-long fossil provides a rare look at a distinct Cretaceous predator that coexisted with Tyrannosaurus rex.
If you walk past Sotheby’s headquarters in Manhattan right now, you might mistake the skeletal figure standing in the lobby for an undersized Tyrannosaurus rex. It features the familiar gaping jaw packed with sharp teeth, but the proportions tell a different story. With arms and legs notably longer than those of a classic T. rex, the specimen belongs to a recently confirmed distant cousin known as the Nanotyrannus.
Measuring 6.5 feet tall and stretching roughly 20 feet in length, the mounted skeleton carries a pre-auction estimate of $6 million to $9 million ahead of its October 27 sale. It is one of only three such skeletons known to exist.
From Montana Discovery to Manhattan Lobby
The fossil’s journey to the auction block began in Montana, where it was unearthed by rancher Jodi Pierson. Pierson named the specimen after herself and brought in her cousin, commercial paleontologist Clayton Phipps, to handle the excavation—a process documented by the Discovery Channel series Dino Hunters
in 2020.
Phipps has a long history with the genus. Two decades ago, he excavated the so-called Dueling Dinosaurs fossil—a block containing a Triceratops and a small tyrannosaur now identified as a Nanotyrannus—roughly 8 miles away from where Jodi was found. That discovery eventually found a home at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
Challenging the King of the Lizards
The public exhibition of Jodi follows a scientific rebrand that took shape over recent years. When the specimen appeared at Frieze London in 2023, it was billed as a juvenile T. rex named Chomper and attached to a $20 million price tag. Subsequent paleontology research, including a study published in Nature utilizing roughly 200 tyrannosaur fossils, established that the animal belonged to a distinct genus rather than youth status.
Scientists examining growth rings within preserved bones confirmed that the specimens were fully formed adults rather than juveniles.
We now know that they coexisted. They lived alongside each other, occupying distinct niches in the ecological system.
Hatton compares the ecological dynamic to modern African predators, noting that it’s like a lion and a cheetah
.
Where the Other Skeletons Rest
As Jodi prepares for the auction block, the other two known Nanotyrannus skeletons reside in institutional collections. The third Nanotyrannus skeleton is located at the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, Illinois.
The commercial sale has drawn scrutiny from researchers concerned about access.
The Market for Prehistoric Apex Predators
The auction arrives at a time when dinosaur fossils command immense attention from high-end collectors. In July, Sotheby’s sold a nearly complete T. rex named Gus for $50.1 million, above a high estimate of $30 million.
Sotheby’s officials expect Jodi’s smaller stature and manageable dimensions to appeal to a distinct segment of buyers. Some collectors want a specific dinosaur, while others want a dinosaur with claws and teeth, something that looks vicious.
