Dire wolf skull could fetch over $30,000 at auction

Hot off of a whopping Martian meteorite auction earlier this summer, a dire wolf skull, fossilized cave bear, T. rex bones, and more are headed to the auction block next week. Heritage Auctions’ Nature & Science Signature® Natural History Auction is scheduled for Friday, August 29 at 11 am CDT.

“We are proud to present this auction of amazing specimens, including real-life ‘monsters’—at least in fossil form—and meteorites that span the farthest reaches of outer space,” Craig Kissick, Vice President of Nature & Science for Heritage Auctions, said in a statement. “Not to mention an array of colorful gemstones, collectible gold specimens, and rare scientific memorabilia not to be missed. We have literally crossed the boundaries of space and time to bring together this collection of items representing the best in quality of many different varieties.”

Clan of the cave bear

Cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) stomped through present day Europe during the Pleistocene Epoch, about 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago. Scientists have unearthed the skulls of more than 100,000 cave bears in European cave deposits, and the one up for sale was found in present day Romania. The fossilized skeleton that is up for auction clocks in at eight-feet-tall.

Dire wolf bones

Also up for auction is a complete upper skull of a dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus). Dire wolves also lived during the Pleistocene, roaming North and South America with their achy joints. Numerous dire wolf fossils have been found in the famed La Brea Tar Pits outside of Los Angeles, California. The specimen that’s up for auction also has a cast mandible (or jaw bone) to complete the skull.

A predatory Cretaceous lizard 

In addition to the dire wolf skull, a mosasaur skull belonging to the extinct apex predator lizard Tylosaurus proriger is also up for bid. Tylosaurus proriger was a fearsome predator that stalked the seas of the Late Cretaceous period 66 to 92 million years ago. The skull up for auction has a near complete set of cone-shaped teeth. 

A giant woolly mammoth tusk; iridescent ammonite fossil that shimmers with green, gold, blue, and purple; a colorful and petrified conifer slab; and more are also up for bid.

 

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