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Sussex Evolution sale: Woolly mammoth skeleton auction | Sussex Evolution sale: Woolly mammoth skeleton auction |
(about 7 hours later) | |
A near-complete skeleton of an Ice Age woolly mammoth fetched £150,000 at an auction in West Sussex. | |
The skeleton was expected to fetch between £150,000 and £250,000 at the second Evolution sale in Billingshurst. | |
At last year's first Evolution sale, Summers Place Auctions sold a Diplodocus skeleton for £400,000. | At last year's first Evolution sale, Summers Place Auctions sold a Diplodocus skeleton for £400,000. |
The woolly mammoth skeleton, which was found in eastern Europe and is between 30,000 and 50,000 years old, was bought by a UK-based private buyer. | |
It was sold in a telephone bid, which, with the buyer's premium, amounted to £189,000. | |
The auction house said the skeleton -18ft (5.5m) high and 11ft 6in (3.5m) long and weighing up to six tonnes - was found decades ago but had only recently been prepared and mounted. | The auction house said the skeleton -18ft (5.5m) high and 11ft 6in (3.5m) long and weighing up to six tonnes - was found decades ago but had only recently been prepared and mounted. |
Experts believe the mammal could have been male because of its size and weight and have nicknamed it Monty. | Experts believe the mammal could have been male because of its size and weight and have nicknamed it Monty. |
Curator Errol Fuller said it took four people to lift the mammoth's skull and fix it to the body. | Curator Errol Fuller said it took four people to lift the mammoth's skull and fix it to the body. |
Extinct species | |
Woolly mammoths, which were covered in fur and had long, curved tusks, died out about 10,000 years ago. | Woolly mammoths, which were covered in fur and had long, curved tusks, died out about 10,000 years ago. |
The auction house said complete skeletons were rare but isolated teeth, bones and tusk fragments were occasionally found - sometimes dredged up from the sea. | The auction house said complete skeletons were rare but isolated teeth, bones and tusk fragments were occasionally found - sometimes dredged up from the sea. |
The specimen which was sold on Wednesday by a private collector is 90% complete. | |
A few small bones are missing but those have been replaced with replicas, according to the auction catalogue. | |
Another item in the auction included a 30cm (11in) elephant bird egg which went for £69,960 to a Chinese museum. | |
Mr Fuller said: "I am really pleased that this sale includes so many rare and extinct species. | |
"We have managed to assemble some of the best examples in this field and it's a great opportunity to see them all together." |
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