Nearly Intact Saber-Tooth Skull Found Near La Brea Tar Pits At Heritage Auctions
by Noah Fleisher
Saber-toothed cats ranged throughout North and South America from 11,000 to 2.5 million years ago. In the 1960s, an amateur fossil hunter found a nearly complete saber-toothed tiger skull in Los Angeles.
The specimen originated in the Wilshire/Hauser Tar Pit, across the street from the original Tar Pit discovery at Rancho La Brea, probably the single most important Late Pleistocene locality in North America, says David Herskowitz, director of Natural History at Heritage Auctions. It is 95 percent intact, with few cracks or blemishes. "It is one of the best specimens of its kind," Herskowitz says.
Since its discovery, the skull has remained in private hands, first with a Beverly Hills collector and most recently with a collector in New York, Herskowitz says. In May, the specimen --- which measures just over 12 inches long, 13 inches high and with seven-inch saber-teeth --- realized $334,600 at Heritage Auctions' Natural History Signature® Event.
"Most people find this sort of thing really cool," Herskowitz told the Chicago Sun-Times after the auction "We can't get enough of it. That's the reason natural history museums remain so popular."
Extremely Rare Saber-Toothed Tiger Skull , Smilodon fatalis, Pleistocene, Rancho La Brea Formation, Los Angeles.
Sold: Heritage Auctions, May 2009, $334,600.
Heritage Magazine Summer/Fall 2009 Copyright ©2009 by Heritage Auctions, Inc.