Wanted: an 8-foot-tall, 24-foot-long Tyrannosaurus bataar dinosaur fossil worth about $1 million.
On Tuesday, a New York federal judge requested the Department of Homeland Security to seize the remains of a 70-million-year-old dinosaur artifact in New York City believed to have been stolen from Mongolia.
The fossil was illegally imported from Great Britain to Gainesville in March 2010 by an unidentified buyer.
Beverly Sensbach, assistant director of the Florida Museum of Natural History, said the museum didn’t promote the fossil while it was in the city.
“We have personally never seen it,” she said.
According to a civil complaint, documents given to officials contained false information about the artifact, which incorrectly said it was from Great Britain and was worth $15,000.
On May 20, the fossil was sold to an anonymous buyer for $1,052,500.
Heritage Auctions, the Dallas-based auction company overseeing the sale, halted the sale on May 21 pending an investigation into the fossil’s origins.
The artifact is currently located in an art storage facility in New York City.
“We have cooperated in the investigation process for paleontologists to expeditiously examine the skeleton, and we will continue to cooperate with authorities,” said Jeff Halperin, co-founder of Heritage Auctions, in a statement.
Contact Chris Alcantara at calcantara@alligator.org.
An image from documents released from the U.S. Attorney's office, Monday, June 18, 2012 shows the fossil of a Tyrannosaurus bataar dinosaur at the center of a lawsuit demanding its return to Mongolia. A lawsuit brought by the U.S. government demanded Monday June 18, 2012, the fossil be turned over to the United States by an auction house so that it can be returned to its home in Mongolia. (AP Photo/U.S Attorney Office for the Southern District of New York, Handout)
