National Geographic USA - 10.2019

(Joyce) #1
simply curious, as well
as to serious collectors
looking to bid. Natural
history auctions are a
particular draw for the
latter set, Galimberti
says. At one such event
in 2018, an anonymous
bidder from South-
east Asia purchased an
Allosaurus and a Kaat-
edocus siberi via the

A Triceratops skull
(center, in background)
and other fossils attract
a crowd at the Drouot
auction center in Paris.
“Many of these people
are not buyers,” says
photographer Gabriele
Galimberti. The auction
center, the oldest and
largest in Paris, is open
to visitors who are


internet for $2.9 million.
The sale prices at
the event shown here
were more modest,
with the Triceratops
going for a mere
$188,464. The Zarafa-
saura (foreground) was
repatriated to Morocco
after officials there suc-
cessfully argued that
it should be returned.

THE DINOSAUR IN THE ROOM 131
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