Get Your Bid in Early!

[Shark23]

Bidding for Mummified Walrus Penis Bone, 4 Feet Long, Starts at $16,000
Monday, August 27, 2007

LOS ANGELES — Among all the fossils, skeletons, meteorites and gemstones for sale Sunday at the I.M. Chait Gallery natural history auction, lot #127 stands out.

It's a mummified baculum, or penis bone, from a species of walrus that went extinct 12,000 years ago. The piece is more than 4 feet long, curves to a point and is covered with weathered skin and dry muscle tissue.

Who would want to own such an odd thing? Lots of people, including technology executives, Hollywood producers and A-list celebrities. Bidding starts at $16,000.

"Size matters, and the walrus has got everybody beat," said Josh Chait, operations director for his family's auction house in Beverly Hills. "It's a little sick, but where else are you going to get another one? That's how collectors think."

For the rich, famous, and scientifically literate, collecting such things has become a trendy hobby, despite concerns from scientists who say such artifacts belong in museums where they're available to researchers, educators and the public.

Directors Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg are fossil collectors, as are actors Nicolas Cage and Harrison Ford — yes, the same Ford who in the "Indiana Jones" films has played a university archaeologist determined to save such treasures from falling into the wrong hands.

[Jahred]

i always thought it was cartilidge shark

[Shark23]

Originally Posted by Jahred

i always thought it was cartilidge shark

Maybe we should ask Skippy??

[Gerk]

I never understood when my girlfriend nicknamed me The Walrus

Now it makes sense. TY

[Trossi3389]

i see that cat bidding on it.

[Trossi3389]

Originally Posted by Gerk

I never understood when my girlfriend nicknamed me The Walrus

LOL

[Shark23]

Originally Posted by Gerk

I never understood when my girlfriend nicknamed me The Walrus

Now it make sense. TY

She told me it was because you remind her of Craig Stadler.......

[Gerk]

Originally Posted by Trossi3389

i see that cat bidding on it.

Because of money concerns and the fact that his woman would use the walrus in comparison to his own, Cat settled for the three inch model