Web Junkie Wednesday: This week on eBay -- an effing Mastodon!
The San Francisco Chronicle has a great piece about a woman selling a Mastodon skeleton on eBay.
The woman, Nancy Fiddler, said she's had no bids so far -- which could have something to do with the $115,000 starting price.
My favorite bit from the article:
Mastodon experts say that six figures for a mastodon is several figures too many, and that fossils belong in museums instead of wine bars and garages.
"That's an incredibly inflated price," said UC Berkeley paleontologist Mark Goodwin. "Mastodons are not uncommon. And the commercialization of fossils is a huge problem. It's undermining the science. This is our fossil heritage, and it shouldn't be for sale."
I just love the idea that the paleontologist is upset because she thinks that whoever buys this skeleton is getting hosed. What's the Blue Book value on an extinct animal's fossilized remains?
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