There’s nothing more exciting in the life of an archaeologist or a paleontologist than discovering an intact artifact of the distant past.
Not only is it almost miraculous that these pieces held together for thousands and sometimes millions of years, but there’s a whole world of possibilities when it comes to what they can teach us about our planet’s mysterious history .
However, they’re not the only ones interested in these discoveries as it’s not unheard of for collectors to pay top dollar for ancient relics. So much so that it’s apparently worth the risk of having to give them back because they were acquired illegally.
But while these commercial interests often frustrate scientists, that was particularly true when Stan — one of the the world’s most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex fossils — left the public eye and entered the collection of an anonymous bidder who paid $31.8 million.
And in a recent interview, none other than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson sparked speculation that he was that bidder.
During an appearance on the Manningcast, former NFL star Eli Manning couldn’t help but notice Johnson had a T-Rex skull in his background.
Johnson replied, “I got a T-Rex skull. Yes, that’s Stan” before explaining that it was discovered by amateur paleontologist Stan Sacrison and named after him.
And indeed, most could agree when Johnson said, “Pretty cool and badass, isn’t it?”
But at the same time, they wondered if he really had the skull of the Stan in his possession.
But just minutes after the interview clip first hit Twitter to excited speculation about Johnson outing himself as the anonymous bidder, journalist Nick Veronica came across a more likely explanation.
While it’s probably true that the skull indeed depicts Stan as Johnson suggested, he may have been a little misleading about which Stan skull he’s got.
Because as Veronica discovered, there’s a pretty healthy market for replicas of Stan’s skull that tend to set collectors back about $11,500 a pop.
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And while it’s not outside the realm of possiblity that Johnson would have the funds to purchase the real Stan, others came forward with additional reasons why he likely didn’t.
In addition to popularity of the Stan replicas, a Paleontology student named Tyler Greenfield noted that there was a marked difference between how Johnson’s skull was mounted and how Stan’s actual skeleton is set up.
As we can see, the way that the metal rod pierces through the skull in Johnson’s possession much more closely resembles Stan’s replicas than his actual skull.
So either Johnson bought a replica or he had the skull of a nearly priceless dinosaur skeleton removed and pierced to look exactly like a replica.
Not only would that defeat the purpose of owning the real thing, but it seems unlikely that this is something most people would be all that proud of doing.
But of course, you can see how Johnson described the skull right here and come to your own conclusions.