Fossils Facts

A Stegosaurus skeleton nicknamed "Apex" sold at Sotheby's on July 17, 2024 for $44.6 million - the most ever paid for a fossil at auction. Sotheby's had estimated it at $4 to $6 million; bidding ended in 15 minutes. Of its 319 visible bones, 254 are original fossil. The rest are sculpted.

Lee Berger found 1,550 fossils of an unknown human species in South Africa's Rising Star cave. The only way in was an 18-cm gap. He couldn't fit. He posted on Facebook for scientists slim enough to squeeze through. Six women answered. They crawled in and pulled out Homo naledi - a lost branch of humanity. Eight years later, Berger lost 25 kg and finally made it in himself.

Sue, the T. rex at Chicago's Field Museum, was found because of a flat tire. In 1990, a South Dakota fossil crew drove into town to fix it, but Sue Hendrickson stayed behind and walked her dog to cliffs the crew had not checked. Giant bones jutted from the rock above her, part of one of the most complete T. rex skeletons ever found. The skeleton still carries her name.