A family in Sebastopol, California (hometown of the MAKE: headquarters!) is auctioning off a beautiful fossilized mastodon. Found on the Fiddler family farm in 1997, the specimen spent several years on display at the Oakland Museum and then in a wine bar. The starting bid at eBay is $115,000, which is apparently way too high. No bids as of yet. From the San Francisco Chronicle:
"That's an incredibly inflated price," said UC Berkeley paleontologist Mark Goodwin. "Mastodons are not uncommon. And the commercialization of fossils is a huge problem. It's undermining the science. This is our fossil heritage, and it shouldn't be for sale…"
(Nancy) Fiddler hopes the giant fossil will find a good home, and she hopes it will go on display in another museum. But most of all, she hopes to get $800,000, so she and her family can buy a large ranch and some cars.
"If it doesn't sell, we'll just hang on to it a while longer," she said. "We're not going to give it away."
Link to SF Chronicle article, Link to eBay auction
