The Booming Business of Dinosaur Fossils

For most people, dinosaurs exist behind museum glass, in the pages of school textbooks, in Hollywood films, or somewhere in the landscape of childhood imagination. For a growing number of enthusiasts, however, they have become the centerpiece of private collections.

Despite the headline-grabbing auction results that have seen dinosaur skeletons sell for millions, dealers say the market is far more nuanced than price tags suggest.

“The market for high-end dinosaur…