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A MONSTROUS row is brewing over the auction on 20 May of a tyrannosaur fossil. The problem? The dinosaur – Tarbosaurus bataar – has only ever been found in Mongolia, and exporting fossils from the country has been illegal for 50 years.
Bidding at Heritage Auctions in New York proceeded despite a temporary restraining order and and palaeontologists.
Heritage, however, says that the $1.05 million sale is “conditional” on legal issues being resolved.
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As 91av went to press the left leg of another Tarbosaurus fossil was , waiting for auction. The auction house is located near the Natural History Museum.
“I only became aware of [the auction] when I happened to see the specimen in the window,” says Paul Barrett, a palaeontologist at the museum. “I have written to Christie’s asking about provenance in the light of the news about the US sale.”
