Friday, January 25, 2008

Fossils On The Block Again

From Physorg.com:

A Triceratops skeleton from a private European collection, is the highlight of the April 16 Christie's auction in Paris. It will mark the first time that such a dinosaur specimen goes up for public sale since a T-Rex called "Sue" was sold in New York in October 1997.

In all, 150 items from natural history collections - fossils, skeletons and minerals - valued at some 1.6 million euros will be up for auction. A sabre-toothed tiger cranium is expected to fetch up to 45,000 euros, while the fossilized giant shark teeth have been valued at up to 4,000 euros.

Christie's said it hoped to build on the success of last year's paleontology auction that brought in more than one million euros and established 12 world records. Also up for bids will be a Tyrannosaurus egg (?!) mineralized in agate, valued at between 20,000 and 25,000 euros; and an Apatosaurus dinosaur tibia from the Jurassic Period, which is expected to raise up to 30,000 euros.

A private German museum is offering a well-conserved cranium of an Edmontosaurus, a duck-beaked dinosaur, estimated at between 70,000 and 80,000 euros.