Apex Stegosaurus Fossil

Now Open

Included with any admission.
Floor 1, Gilder Center Kenneth C. Griffin Exploration Atrium

Apex Stegosaurus fossil mount on display in the Museum's Gilder Center.
Alvaro Keding and Daniel Kim/© AMNH
Thought to be the largest and one of the most complete Stegosaurus specimens ever uncovered, Apex is now on view in the Museum’s Kenneth C. Griffin Exploration Atrium.

The 150-million-year-old fossil, known as Apex, measures 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) tall and 27 feet (8.2 meters) long. It is mounted in a defensive pose, with its spiked tail raised in the air.

This extraordinary Stegosaurus specimen was discovered in 2022 in the famed Morrison Formation, just outside of Dinosaur, Colorado. It is extremely well-preserved, with more than 254 of approximately 320 bone elements. Missing pieces were filled in with 3D-printed and sculpted components.

Apex Stegosaurus fossil mount on display in the Museum's Gilder Center. Alvaro Keding and Daniel Kim/© AMNH
Apex Stegosaurus fossil mount on display in the Museum's Gilder Center. Alvaro Keding and Daniel Kim/© AMNH

Apex is on exhibit in a windowed alcove at the entrance to the Gilder Center, offering visitors the opportunity to move around the fossil to appreciate its scale from all angles.

At the same time, researchers in the Museum’s Division of Paleontology will be studying the specimen to investigate Stegosaurus growth, life history, and variation, drawing on data from Apex as well as from existing collections at the Museum and other natural history institutions.

One of the first questions the researchers will tackle: what was Apex’s species?

Apex and its associated scientific research and educational activations are made possible by

Kenneth C. Griffin

and
Text logo that reads Griffin Catalyst.