http://www.dailynews.com/ci_6720297Four foot fossilized walrus penis expected to bring big bucks at auction
BY RAQUEL MARIA DILLON Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 08/26/2007 12:28:39 AM PDT
Among all the fossils, skeletons, meteorites and gemstones for sale Sunday at the I.M. Chait Gallery natural history auction in Beverly Hills, lot #127 stands out.
It's a fossilized 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. "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, fossil collecting has become a trendy hobby, despite concerns from scientists who say artifacts belong in museums where they're available to researchers, educators and the public.
Actors Nicolas Cage and Harrison Ford, and directors Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg are fossil collectors. Leonardo DiCaprio recently discussed bidding for a Tyrannosaurus rex skull during an interview on CBS' Early Show about his new environmental documentary, "The 11th Hour."
Fossils are also attainable for the average collector and perfect conversation pieces for the home, said Chait.
"It's not like you have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars. You can get decent pieces that are unique and ancient for a couple hundred," he said.
At its biannual natural history auction, Chait is offering two flies trapped in amber while mating (estimated to be worth at least $700), a 22-foot fossil skeleton of a "sea monster" mosasaurus from the Cretaceous period (which could go for $100,000), meteorites, minerals and many other long-dead creatures great and small.
As for the walrus item, many mammals have bacula. In Alaska they're called "oosiks," polished and used as knife handles sold to tourists.
Prospectors hunting for fossils in northern Siberia almost mistook this particular baculum for a poorly preserved mammoth tusk.
Collectors are attracted to the wow - or ick - factor of a unique piece, but they're also smart, said David Herskowitz, the dealer who curated the Chait auction.
Mostly, they attract men, said Levi Morgan, a spokesman for Bonhams and Butterfields.
"We call them big boys' toys," he said, but because of the prices, "these are not to be played with by children."
The objects appreciate in value. Chuck Lieberman, an economist from Paramus, N.J. who has been collecting fossils for more than 20 years, said items he bought a few years ago are no longer available.
Lieberman, 59, fondly described his collection: a fossilized pterosaur, or winged reptile; six display cabinets of fossils in his basement; and a horseshoe crab relief that includes the animal's death tracks, "its final steps before it died."
Auction houses won't reveal the names of their clients - famous or otherwise, but Morgan said an one entertainment mogul displays a saber-tooth cat skull prominently on his desk.
Interior designers also bid for ancient artifacts that have been polished or mounted to add ambiance to a well-appointed room.
Elaine Levin, 50, was looking to decorate her new home in Long Beach when she started collecting fossils, petrified wood and skeletons of exotic animals.
She installed a skeleton of a giraffe in her living room and a slab of fossilized mud with the imprint of a fish and a stingray above the fireplace.
"I choose objects that are decorative, but they're not always the best specimens. I weigh those two factors when I buy. I like them raw and real, but a lot of these pieces have been enhanced and restored."
Levin, a corporate attorney, attributed the higher prices for petrified wood to features in design magazines such as Architectural Digest.
The growing popularity of fossil collecting is a concern for Kevin Padian, a paleontologist at the University of California, Berkeley.
Researchers and educators lose when commercial prospectors "rip stuff out of the ground and clean it up to sell it," he said.
"It might look to you like an old ash tray, but the position a fossil is found in tells you a lot," he said. "Is every little scrap of bone and mud valuable scientific information? No, but commercial collectors and dealers aren't qualified to say."
Major international auction houses such as Christie's and Sotheby's do not hold natural history auctions because scientists object to the commercial sale of fossils.
Collectors say many fossils would remain undiscovered or dissolve in the wind and the rain if there were no market or incentives for prospectors.
Lieberman, who once volunteered on a dig in southwest Wyoming with his teenage son, said his family isn't as excited about fossils as he is, so his collection will likely be donated to a public institution.
"These fossils are probably going to last longer than I am," he said.
First, where would you put it? Hang it on the wall? Lean it against the closet? Use it as a door knocker? And secondly what would you do, ask every guest who came to your home if they wanna see your fossilized 4 ft. walrus penis??? 
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