Precious few are interested in walrus bone

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — A fossilized penis bone from an extinct walrus isn’t the usual kind of artifact to hang above the mantel.

Maybe that’s why it sold at auction for $8,000, far below the expected price.

The 4-foot-long item, covered with weathered skin and dry muscle tissue, was sold to the company that runs the Ripley’s Believe It or Not museums, said Josh Chait, director of operations for the I.M. Chait Gallery, his family’s auction house.

“Their corporate office bought it and they’ll probably display it around the country,” he said.

There were only three bidders and the contest lasted only a couple of minutes, Chait said. “Only a limited number of people really want it,” Chait acknowledged.

The price will run $9,600 when auction fees are included. “I thought it was a bargain,” said Chait. It had been expected to fetch $12,000 to $16,000.

The fossilized baculum, or penis bone, is from a species of walrus that went extinct 12,000 years ago.

The auction house said it was believed to be the largest known mammal penis fossil.

“I’m glad it’s going to a museum and not a private collection” so it can on public display, Chait said. “It’s definitely something everyone should see once in their life.”