FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Josh Chait
310.285.0182
josh@chait.com

SABER-TOOTHED TIGER SPOTTED IN BEVERLY HILLS!!!

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Lot 163

Beverly Hills, CA March,25 2005 - I.M. Chait Gallery, in association with Mr. David Herskowitz, holds the title of Southern California’s Natural History headquarters this May as over two hundred rare and amazing items take you through a time travel to unravel the magnificent tale of Earth’s past!!

The virtually complete skull of a Saber-Toothed tiger, Smilodon, among scores of other remarkable historical artifacts will be offered to the highest bidder during I.M. Chait Gallery’s long-awaited Natural History auction on May 22nd, 2005.

Extremely rare fossil roamed thousands of years ago! The Smilodon was first described by Paleontologist John C. Merriam in 1932 after his extensive work at the La Brea Tar Pits, the area where this rare fossil was discovered. The La Brea Tar pits of Los Angeles is probably the single most important Late Pleistocene locality in North America. Closed to private collectors for over fifty years and staunchly guarded by the state of California, the Tar Pits contain some of the richest, most studied and best preserved assemblages of Pleistocene vertebrates. One hundred thirty five species of bird, fifty nine species of mammal, together with other organisms such as plants, mollusks and insects- six hundred and sixty in all, have been discovered within this wellspring of historical finds.

Paleontologists are concerned! The Pleistocene era (1.8 million- 10,000 years ago), particularly the Late Pleistocene, is of great interest to archaeologists and paleontologists alike as it was during this period that the last ice age occurred. Some archaeologists believe that many of the extinctions of the groups of mammals that once roamed North America such as the wooly mammoth, the massive dire wolf, camels, llamas, horses, cheetahs, sloths, among others occurred around twelve thousand years ago. Therefore, all fossils from this site are considered highly important and, according to paleontologists, present a telling story of Earth’s rich past. Each specimen is like a chapter in a book and scientists feel that if the fossil sold to a private collection, the information that it could provide would be lost forever.

This is the second time that a La Brea Saber-Toothed tiger fossil has ever been offered for sale to the general public. The unprecedented first sale of a Saber-Tooth was in May, 2004 at the I.M. Chait Gallery. Natural history aficionados were in a frenzy over the astounding $223,000 sale price!!! The specimen being offered in the upcoming Natural History Auction is by far one of the finest skulls ever found and is over 95% complete. The auction estimate is a conservative $150,000 -- $200,000.

In addition to this important fossil being offered for sale, there are 200 other lots of Natural History Items with a total value of 1.3 million dollars.

Other highlights include:

An extremely rare Narwhal Skull with 2 complete Tusks

A huge Woolly Mammoth Tusk over 8 ½ feet in length

An Important Dinosaur Skull

A Nest of 4 Dinosaur Eggs

A rare Natural Platinum Nugget that weighs over 14 Troy ounces

A Comprehensive Collection of Rare and Exotic Meteorites and even samples of the Moon and the Planet Mars!

The Natural History auction will be held on Sunday, May 22nd, 2005, at 1:00 PM. The sale offers in-room, absentee, phone, and live on-line bidding. The I.M. Chait Gallery/Auctioneers is located at 9330 Civic Center Drive, Beverly Hills, California, 90210. For more information, or to order a catalogue, kindly call (310) 285-0182, or visit our website at www.chait.com