Full Diplodacus Dinosaur Skeleton Discovered In Wyoming to Be Centerpiece Of First-Ever Dinosaur Auction In Europe
ByIf you find fossils on private land, you're basically free to do as you please with them. So when the children of paleontologist Raimund Albersdoerfer discovered the complete skeleton of a Diplodocus longus dinosaur (looks like a brontosaurus to the untrained eye), their father decided to sell it on the open market.
Albersdoerfer expects to make nearly three quarters of a million dollars when it auctions in November, according to CNN.
Albersdoerfer lives and does most of his work in Europe so the auction will take place in the UK at Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst, West Sussex, CNN reported. The dinosaur, however, was discovered in the Dana Quarry of Wyoming, a noted hotspot for fossil finds.
Museums and historians in the United States may not be too keen on its deportation, but he is within his rights, according to Errol Fuller, who will curate the exhibit and manage the auction.
"It's perfectly legal to bring it from America and legal to move it to any country in the world," he said. "Museum workers will sometimes try to stop these things... but almost every great fossil discovery was made by fossil collectors or dealers."
"Misty" as the Diplodacus is called, is the first full dinosaur to ever auction in Europe, CNN reported. She measures 55-feet long and took 9 weeks to excavate. Discoveries of diplodacuses, especially one as intact as Misty, are extremely rare. The Long Museum of Natural History has one, but its not as well preserved, according to CNN.
Summers Place Auctions will make the most out of its opportunity. According to its website, the facility will sell other pieces of dinosaur lore for top Euro.
"This ground breaking auction entitled Evolution will include natural history in its broadest sense including dinosaur material," the site said, "Dodo bones and a highly important Dodo pelvis, minerals, fossils and taxidermy, both antique and modern including works by Polly Morgan."