Human
Rare Dodo Femur Bone and Extinct Elephant Bird Egg Up for Auction: Buy Some History
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Mar 28, 2013 11:11 AM EDT
Some interesting items are coming up for auction at Christie's auction house in London. A rare femur bone from the extinct dodo bird as well as an egg from the long-gone elephant bird will both be put up on the block on April 24.
The femur bone, which is a mere, four-inch fragment, could be worth as much as $22,600. Yet the auction house believes that the price is well worth it. It's rare for someone to part with these types of items, which means that buyers will want to take full advantage of the opportunity to buy the femur.
The dodo bird itself was first discovered and presented to the world in 1958 when Dutch sailors reported seeing them on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. Yet less than 100 years after that, the bird was extinct--pushed over the edge by hunting and the introduction of large animals. While scientists have tried to reconstruct what the bird looked like, they're still unsure exactly how the dodo may have appeared during life. No complete specimens have survived.
The femur that's being put up to auction is dwarfed by the elephant egg that's also making an appearance. About 100 times the size of a chicken egg, it's larger even than dinosaur eggs. Like the dodo bird, the elephant bird also became extinct at some point between the 13th and 17th centuries. The 10-foot-tall flightless bird once inhabited Madagascar, resembling massive ostriches. Scientists currently believe that its extinction was the result of human activity--it's very possible that their massive eggs were sought out to feed entire families.
The elephant bird's egg doesn't just dwarf the dodo femur in size, though. It also dwarfs it in price. The egg is expected to sell for roughly $45,000.
Both the egg and the femur will be displayed for viewing on April 20 prior to the auction.
See Now:
NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone
©2024 ScienceWorldReport.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The window to the world of science news.
More on SCIENCEwr
First Posted: Mar 28, 2013 11:11 AM EDT
Some interesting items are coming up for auction at Christie's auction house in London. A rare femur bone from the extinct dodo bird as well as an egg from the long-gone elephant bird will both be put up on the block on April 24.
The femur bone, which is a mere, four-inch fragment, could be worth as much as $22,600. Yet the auction house believes that the price is well worth it. It's rare for someone to part with these types of items, which means that buyers will want to take full advantage of the opportunity to buy the femur.
The dodo bird itself was first discovered and presented to the world in 1958 when Dutch sailors reported seeing them on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. Yet less than 100 years after that, the bird was extinct--pushed over the edge by hunting and the introduction of large animals. While scientists have tried to reconstruct what the bird looked like, they're still unsure exactly how the dodo may have appeared during life. No complete specimens have survived.
The femur that's being put up to auction is dwarfed by the elephant egg that's also making an appearance. About 100 times the size of a chicken egg, it's larger even than dinosaur eggs. Like the dodo bird, the elephant bird also became extinct at some point between the 13th and 17th centuries. The 10-foot-tall flightless bird once inhabited Madagascar, resembling massive ostriches. Scientists currently believe that its extinction was the result of human activity--it's very possible that their massive eggs were sought out to feed entire families.
The elephant bird's egg doesn't just dwarf the dodo femur in size, though. It also dwarfs it in price. The egg is expected to sell for roughly $45,000.
Both the egg and the femur will be displayed for viewing on April 20 prior to the auction.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone