Nicolas Cage Returns Dinosaur Skull That Was Smuggled Out Of Mongolia

Actor Nicolas Cage has turned in a rare Tyrannosaurus bataar skull to U.S. authorities when it was discovered that the dinosaur skull was illegally smuggled out of Mongolia. Mr. Cage turned in the skull after Manhattan U.S. attorney Preet Bharara submitted a civil forfeiture complaint to initiate a repatriation process for the fossil. The Hollywood actor had purchased the skull in 2007 at an auction from the Las Angeles gallery I.M. Chait for $276,000. Nicolas Cage outbid Leonardo DiCaprio for the pleasure of purchasing the illegally smuggled Tyrannosaurus skull. “Bharara’s office has beee involved in the repatriation of more than 12 dinosaur fossils in the last three years, including a similar Tyrannosaurus skull which was seized by US agents in September 2014.”

See Henri Neuendorf, Nicolas Cage Returns $276,000 Stolen Skull to Mongolia, artnet news, December 22, 2015.