SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian police were hunting for thieves who took a rare 110 million-year-old dinosaur skeleton from a museum exhibition.
Police said Monday the skeleton of the psittacosaurus sinensis was taken from the Newcastle Regional Museum, about 120 kilometres (195 miles) north of Sydney, on Saturday night.

Museum director Gavin Fry said the 60 centimetre (24 inch) tall fossil, with a parrot-like beak, was one of only six of its type in the world and was a direct predecessor of the giant triceratops herbivore.

"It's not of great monetary value, tens of thousands of dollars rather than millions, but it's scientific value is undisputed," Fry told AFP.

He said the theft from an alarmed exhibition gallery was embarrassing for the museum because the skeleton was part of an exhibition of dinosaur remains on loan from China.


View: Full Article | Source: Yahoo News

OMG I'd hate to know where they hid it to get it out the building!!

Why would you steal a fossil anyway?

Saw this story on the news a few days ago, apparently the dinosaur was owned buy a chinese investor and a reward of $5,000 has been offered for any info leading to the recovery. This fossil was one of only 5 in the world, so its value on the black market would be resonably high i assume, at least $10-20k. Security on the museum was to blame as there were no guards or patrols. Learning experience for future exibitions. People will steal anything nowdays for money, no matter how obscure.