Bidding failed to meet expectations on a uniquely complete skeleton of a Jurassic-era dryosaurus — a long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur — Saturday, so it was no-sale for the centerpiece at an auction of rare skeletons, fossils and other prehistoric memorabilia.

Auctioneers at the I.M. Chait Gallery had hoped the 150-million-year-old, nine-foot-long dryosaurus would sell for as much as $500,000 but bidding did not add up. Two museums are said to still be interested in acquiring the skeleton, being sold by Western Paleontological Laboratories out of Utah.

A 18,000-year-old, 7-foot-tall and 15-foot-long skeleton of a teenage woolly mammoth from Siberia took the auction’s top prize, fetching close to $60,000, while a completely opalized green, blue, yellow and red ammonite fossil measuring two-and-a-half feet in diameter went for close to $50,000. Both were bought by private collections.

“The woolly is so special because it wasn’t fully grown and can therefore fit in someone’s living room,” says Josh Chait, director of operations at the gallery. “A collector’s dream.”


Source: The CNN Wire