Rare dinosaur remains could be forever lost to the scientific community when they go under the hammer in November.
The remarkably preserved fossils of two "duelling" dinosaurs frozen in a death clinch could fetch up to $10m.
But scientists want the opportunity to examine the specimens of the tyrannosaur, which appears to have bitten off more than it could chew.
Details of the discovery, from Montana, US, were discussed at the British Science Festival in Newcastle.
The large arms and thin head of this most complete tyrannosaur ever discovered suggest it is a new species, called Nanotyrannus, living alongside and related to T. rex.
The observations were made by Dr Phil Manning of Manchester University.
Some 65 to 67 million years ago, in an area that now lies the middle of Montana, T. rex was the top predator of the ecosystem. Dr Manning has just returned from an excavation of a new T. rex skeleton that he is preparing for a museum in Leiden, Germany.
Fossil fragments of T. rex are found throughout the rocks called the "Hell Creek Formation" in Montana, but never before has an entire tyrannosaur skeleton been found.
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