dinosaurs.jpgYou know the shops which sell dung shaped ornaments and dung magnets? And you thought they were disgusting? Well, two pieces of dinosaur dung have been auctioned off for $960 in New York. The 130-million-year-old fossilized dung looks like a rock on the external and contains a colorful mineral within. The buyer, Steve Tesngas, is in the business of treating animal waste. He wants to make the point that “Poop is big business in the pet industry.” In this case, the bigger and older the dung, the more valuable it is.

Marketing gimmick aside, elephant dung and cow dung are all valuable sources of fuel or fertilizer in different parts of the world. Other than that, getting rid of waste material is big business. People are willing to pay to be rid of what is unpleasant and unwanted.
The dinosaurs may be gone but the price of the dung is a reminder of how far human beings have evolved over the centuries.