Fossils and more at auction

A prehistoric Siberian mammoth fetched €312,000 (£212,000) at a dinosaur auction in Paris yesterday, but despite intense interest from bidders the sale was derided by scientists for dragging natural history into the gutter of commerce. . .

The dinosaur sale generated €1.13 million, prompting auctioneers to talk of repeating the initiative.

Other star items included the skeleton of a 10,000-year-old rhinoceros, which fetched €120,000: an Ice Age cave bear, which fetched €46,800: an unhatched dinosaur egg, which sold for €1,800; and two dinosaur teeth, which went for €600 and €1,440.

Christie’s also auctioned a bezoar, a type of stone found in the intestines of ruminant animals that was once thought to be a cure for depression and an antidote to poison. These were highly prized in 17th-century England, where a lawsuit over an allegedly fake bezoar gave rise to the doctrine of caveat emptor, which holds that purchasers are responsible for checking the quality of the goods that they buy. The Christie’s bezoar sold for €33,600.

Posted by David on April 17, 2007 5:35 PM