Wyoming diplodocus skeleton fetches £400,000 at auction.

[dipsydoodle]

A diplodocus skeleton has been sold at auction for £400,000 ($652,000).

The 17m-long (56ft) dinosaur was found in a quarry in Wyoming, US, and then assembled in Rotterdam. It is thought to be one of only six relatively complete specimens in the world.

An undisclosed institution bought the skeleton, which auction officials said would be going on public display.

The Natural History Museum had ruled itself out of bidding for the dinosaur before the auction in West Sussex.

The diplodocus, nicknamed Misty, was discovered by the teenage sons of German palaeontologist Raimund Albersdoerfer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25094101

The gigantic skeleton of 160 million year old diplodocus has been auctioned today for £400,000 in Billinghurst, West Sussex.

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The 56-ft long skeleton was discovered by the sons of German palaeontologist Raimund Albersdoerfer during a dig in 2009. Hoping to keep his listless offspring busy, Albersdoerfer had suggested that they dig for bones in a neighbouring site, not thinking that they would find anything notable.

When they reported back to their father that they’d discovered a colossal leg bone all work on the main dig halted and Albersdoerfer spent the next nine weeks unearthing what remained

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/60foot-diplodocus-dinosaur-skeleton-sold-for-400000-in-surrey-8967153.html

[eppur_se_muova]

1. Boo Hiss ! No paleontology for profit !

This leads to fossil sites being strip-mined and ruined. It's like tomb raiders, only with older tombs.

[Warpy]

2. Field workers need to be compensated for the time and trouble of digging it all up

without destroying it plus the paleontologist on site who identified the bones and the period.

However, holding open bids is a bad way to do this.

[Posteritatis]

4. I can only imagine what dismounting, crating and shipping something like that would cost. (nt)

[Stargazer09]

6. Given the size of that skeleton,

plus the costs of getting it out of the ground and safely into a museum, did they really make a profit?

I can only imagine how much all of those bones weigh.

[Posteritatis]

8. Probably a lot more than the original animal, and they'd be more fragile to boot. (nt)

[postulater]

3. I wonder if that was from Thermopolis.

The Wyoming Dinosaur Center was started in the 1990s(?) by a couple of Germans who noticed the rock layering was of the proper period to harbor dinosaurs. They bought the ranch and started looking.

They found what they were looking for and started a museum where they cleaned, prepped and display the fossils.

It is an amazing museum and for a few bucks they take you on a truck ride up to the dig site where you can walk among the active workers.

Highly recommended vacation activity.

http://www.wyodino.org/

[Stargazer09]

5. Thank you for the link!

I have added that to my list of future road trip destinations. We love dinosaurs.

[postulater]

7. As you may guess

Thermopolis has active hot springs nearby. There is a state park with public pools.

And there was a mule deer standing in the middle of downtown Main Street at mid-day.

Enjoy the trip!