Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Triceratops Fails To Sell At Paris Auction


From AFP:
“A rare Triceratops skeleton failed to find a buyer at a Christie's auction in Paris Wednesday after the top bid of 490,000 euros (782,000 dollars) fell short of the price sought by the dinosaur's owner. Christie's said it would over the coming two weeks still entertain post-auction offers for the massive three-horned dinosaur specimen that was the star attraction at the paleontology auction.

The auction on Wednesday marks the first time that such a dinosaur specimen has gone up for public sale since a T-Rex called "Sue" was sold in New York in October 1997. A sabre-toothed tiger cranium was sold for 72,000 euros, while a mammoth skull fetched 64,000 euros.

The auction has been criticized for encouraging private collectors to buy up artefacts of potential value to science. "This is part of our worldwide heritage," said Christian de Muizon, from the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.”