Rocks, crystals, fossils headline sale at Geology Museum
Unique gifts for people fascinated by the beauty of nature will be on sale at the UW–Madison Geology Museum for one day only, Friday, Dec. 4.
This fossilized tooth of a shark called Otodus obliquus that lived 45 to 60 million years ago will be available at the Holiday Sale at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Geology Museum Dec. 4, 2009. The shark may have reached 30 feet in length.
“Everything will be under $20,” says assistant museum director Brooke Norsted. “We’re offering the campus and community a variety of fossils, including shark teeth and shells of ancient relatives of the squids.” These chambered marine animals, called cephalopods, are black and polished, and make a fine example of “organic architecture,” Norsted says.
The sale also includes crystals, a selection of colorful minerals from India, clusters of amethyst and geode-like nodules that reveal beautiful patterns when cracked open.
Almost all of the objects are genuine, but the sale also features replicas of the 5-inch-long teeth of Tyrannosaurus rex. “These are plastic, painted to look like the real thing,” says Norsted.
The sale is a trial run, designed to raise money for museum and its many education programs, says Norsted. All sale items were purchased from mineral dealers or donated to the Friends of the Geology Museum for resale and did not come from the museum’s collection, Norsted adds.
The sale will be held from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. in the lobby of the Geology Museum at Weeks Hall, 1215 W. Dayton St.