Spinosaurus Skeleton and Dinosaur Teeth Featured at Paris Auction

A Paris evolution-themed auction next month will feature everything from a tiny Cretaceous dragonfly to an over 26-foot-long Spinosaurus skeleton. 

(Modern dragonfly; Credit: alvimann)

Other items to go on the auction block starting tomorrow include 470-million-year-old trilobites, fossilized dinosaur teeth, an astronaut glove and a pair of cloth space diapers. The latter, in a bright shade of green, were made for Russia's space team.

The trilobites could go for around $3,000, while the Spinosaurus is expected to fetch about $750,000.

The sale, at Drouot-Montaigne, starts December 1 and will last for two days.

I have mixed feelings. As other analysts have commented, the popularity of such auctions reflects a renewed interest in science and nature. Hopefully some of these collectors have also shelled out money for conservation and other charity efforts.

On the other hand, I well remember a conversation I had some years ago with paleontologist Kevin Padian at UC Berkeley. He chewed my head off because Discovery at the time was selling fossils and other scientific collectibles at its then brick and mortar stores. Padian argued that this fueled commercialization of such objects and took them out of museums, academia and other more public places of exhibition and study. It's often difficult for researchers to get permission to analyze important finds if they are in the hands of private collectors. 

What do you think? Imagine if the Mona Lisa was hanging in someone's family room now and not at the Louvre. The Spinosaurus, ancient dragonfly and more likely hold important information for scientists. Maybe a museum can afford to buy them, but chances are, the remains will go to wealthy individuals. If the popularity of such auctions continues to rise, expect more important dinosaur era artifacts to disappear from public view.