Dino eggs: not cheaper by the dozen

A 65m-year-old nest of dinosaur eggs has sold to an unnamed buyer at auction in Los Angeles for $420,000 (£212,000).

The nest contains 22 broken eggs, 19 of which are in embryonic form, with some of the tiny raptors clearly visible.

The nest was discovered in Guangdong, southern China, in 1984 and scientists there had appealed to Bonhams not to allow the auction.

From the BBC. It sounds as if there is quite a bit of amateur fossil-hunting going on in China, but how much of it is actually illegal? Discovery News also had a writeup on the nest prior to the sale here.

Posted by David on December 4, 2006 11:27 AM