Largest stegosaurus fossil ever found for sale

Apex was found in the US and is 30% bigger than the next biggest Stegosaurus fossil, Sophie

Meet Apex - it's 11ft (3.4 metres) tall and more than 20ft long - that's bigger than a London bus!

It makes Apex the largest and most complete Stegosaurus fossil in the world.

And one lucky person may soon be able to take it home, as it's going up for auction later this summer.

It might be a bit of a stretch with pocket money though - Apex is expected to sell for at least $4 million (£3.5 million).

Apex is the star of Sotheby's 'Geek Week', which is an event the auction house holds every year to showcase some of their best science-themed items. This year it will run from July 18 - July 27.

Stegosauruses lived in what's now known as the US

Cassandra Hatton, the global head of science at Sotheby’s, said: “Apex marks an incredibly important milestone, as simply one of the best fossils of its kind ever unearthed.

“Stegosaurus is one of the most universally recognisable dinosaur species, whose unmistakable silhouette has been a source of fascination and wonder for generations."

Their tails were strong and spiked

Apex was discovered in May 2022 by a paleontologist (a person who studies dinosaurs) called Jason Cooper in Moffat County, Colarado, which is in America.

In fact, he made the discovery near a town called - wait for it - Dinosaur.

Apex is made up of 247 bones, and any gaps have been filled by using 3D prints.

Its bones show that Apex lived a long life, as there are signs of arthritis in some of them - a condition that can affect people and animals when they get older.

The palaeontologist found Apex on his own private land

Stegosaurus fact file

• They're herbivores, which means they lived on a diet of plants

• Stegosaurus in Greek means roof lizard - this is because the plates sticking up from their back were first thought to lay flat

• They could weigh up to 6350 kilograms, the same as the largest living land mammals - the African elephant

• Experts believed they used their powerful spiked tails to defend themselves from predators

• They had very small heads, and their brains were roughly the size of plums