The Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, Inc. (BHI) is a private

corporation A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...

specializing in the excavation and preparation of

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

s, as well as the sale of both original fossil material and museum-quality replicas. Founded in 1974 and based in Hill City,

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

, the company is most famous for excavating and selling replicas of some of the most complete specimens of ''Tyrannosaurus rex'', including " Sue", " Stan", and "

Trix Trix may refer to: Brands and products * Trix (cereal), a breakfast cereal made by General Mills ** Trix yogurt, branded Yoplait yogurt * Trix (company), the German company that produced Trix construction and model train sets * Trix (construct ...

". In March 1992, BHI owners founded the Black Hills Museum of Natural History in Hill City, a non-profit paleontological museum which is controlled by an independent Board of Directors. In May 1992, the remains of "Sue" were seized from the BHI by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

and were auctioned off five years later to the

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educationa ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

for

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7.6 million – the highest price ever paid for a fossil at the time. In 2012, President

Peter Larson Peter Lars Larson (born 1952) is an American fossil dealer who is head of the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, which specialises in the excavation and preparation of fossils. He led the team that excavated " Sue", one of the largest ...

fired his brother, Neal, from the Black Hills Institute amid personal differences. Neal, owning a 35% share of the company, filed a lawsuit against Larson and others in 2015 alleging that he was being oppressed as a shareholder. He sought to liquidate the company to buy out his 35% share ownership and part ways. The court ruled that Neal’s shareholder rights had been violated when he was not invited nor allowed to speak at the meeting where he was fired. The Black Hills Institute did not have enough cash for a buyout, causing Larson's fossil collection to be appraised. Several years later, the court ruled that Neal would receive the ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' skeleton "Stan", which was appraised at a value of $6 million at the time. "Stan" was sold for $32 million in 2020.

References

External links

*
The Seizure of Sue the T. rex by Bob Newland
Fossil trade Companies based in South Dakota Paleontology in South Dakota 1974 establishments in South Dakota American companies established in 1974 {{US-company-stub

See also

References

External links