A STEGOSAURUS dubbed Apex has broken the record price for a dinosaur fossil, selling at Sotheby’s in New York on Wednesday for $44.6 million (£34.2m).

The 11-foot-tall, 27-foot-long Jurassic herbivore, famed for its row of armoured plates and spiked tail, was bought by hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin of Citadel LLC.

The sale beats the previous record $31.8m (£24.4m) paid for a Tyrannosaurus rex called Stan in 2020, and revives concerns at the auction-house trade in fossils, which can see museums and universities lose access to scientific treasures as they are outbid by egotistical plutocrats.