Cabinet of Prehistoric Curiosities

January 22, 2008

Stumped for conversation at your last dinner party? You could soon show guests your nearly 25-foot-long Triceratops skeleton, complete with bony frill and three horns. The dinosaur, immortalized in Spielberg's Jurassic Park, is one of 150 dinosaurs, other fossils, meteors and minerals that will be auctioned next April in Paris, Christie's just announced.

To go along with your skeleton, you could display a Tiranosaurus egg mineralized in agate. The estimated price: close to 50 grand. Still not impressed? How about a Plesiosaurus marine reptile tooth, not just plain or strung on a string, but preserved in opal? Originally excavated in Australia, it dates to 110 million years ago.

Here are three of my other favorites from the collection:

A saber-toothed tiger cranium from 23 to 1.75 million years ago. Estimate- around 70,000-90,000 dollars.

A fossilized crab from 53-33 million years ago. The estimate here is a little more "feasible" at between 2 to 3 thousand.

An over 6-inch tall giant shark tooth from 23 to 5.3 million years ago. That could set you back 7-8 thousand dollars.

My hope is that generous benefactors might purchase these, and other featured, items and then donate them to museums so that we all could admire and learn from them. If not, someone could have one heck of living room collection to show off.