An almost complete skeleton of a saber-toothed tiger, nearly 40 million years old, was sold on Tuesday, December 8 at auction in Geneva for nearly 70,000 euros.
Discovered last year in South Dakota in the United States, this specimen of 1.20 meters long and about 40 centimeters high was awarded in one minute, during a session dedicated to the paleontology organized by the Geneva Sales Hotel.
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Sold at 60,000 Swiss francs (around 55,760 euros),
“the price of the tiger with commission amounts to CHF 74,862.
The buyer is a private Swiss collector
,
”
auction house spokesperson Fanny Moncorgé told AFP.
This specimen of Hoplophoneus, scientific name for this kind of very large lynx, had been estimated by experts between 60,000 and 80,000 CHF (approximately between 55,760 euros and 74,350 euros).
90% complete, it was found on an American ranch in South Dakota in 2019.
Nearly forty pieces of natural history were offered for auction by the Swiss collector Yann Cuenin.
Other fossils have also found buyers, including an 85 cm long fin of a mosasaur, a genus of marine reptile that in the Cretaceous occupied the top of the underwater food chain, sold for 7,000 CHF (6,500 euros).
A tooth from a Tyrannosaurus Rex, arguably the best-known dinosaur, A (Montana), was sold for 5,500 CHF (5,100 euros), roughly double its estimate. A remarkable fossilized dragonfly from the Jurassic (150 million euros) years), with a wingspan of 17.5 cm, was also awarded for the tidy sum of 5,000 CHF (4,650 euros).
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Among the many other objects offered to buyers, a Camarasaurus Grandis dinosaur femur from the Jurassic, 102 centimeters, remained unsold because the reserve price was not met.
A magnificent ammolite fossil with red and orange tones, these very ancient mollusc shells, suffered the same fate.
This real jewel from the Cretaceous period (75 million years ago), whose main component is mother-of-pearl, was estimated between 20,000 and 30,000 CHF (between 18,590 euros and 27,880 euros).
Paleontology sales make some specialists cringe, who admit, however, that many fossils put up for auction would no longer advance science.
They nevertheless stress that important pieces can be part of the lots for sale.