An American collector has paid $282,000 US for one of biggest prizes in the fossil world, a complete skull of the aptly named Smilodon fatalis - the sabre-toothed tiger. The skull came up in May at specialist auctioneers I.M. Chait in Beverly Hills, which reckoned it was the best-preserved ever seen on the market.

Many smilodon skulls are composites with upper and lower jaws
being “marriages”, as antiques lovers would call them. This was
complete and original, with a mere 10 per cent restoration, and
teeth an impressive 18cm long.
The beast, which prowled the land more than 12,000 years ago, is
found only in the New World, and this one was apparently a local,
having been excavated from California’s rich fossil fields at the
Rancho La Brea tar pits.

Posted: 08|27|05 at 10:11 am. Filed under: US News.