Wednesday, April 10, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
A 50,000-year-old packrat nest encased in plastic like a paperweight. A cast of a Nevada mammoth's toe at least 13,000 years old. A chunk of tree from a forest once growing beneath Lake Tahoe.
These and 50 other items are ready for auction at the Desert Research Institute's Nevada Medal Dinner April 19 at Caesars Palace.
Other auctioned items include scientist-led tours of research sites as well as fine art and classic collectibles.
"You won't find these things at any other auction," said dinner chairwoman Sandy Peltyn. Proceeds from the benefit will support graduate research activities at the Desert Research Institute, an arm of the University and Community College System of Nevada. Tickets are $75.
The packrat nests are used by DRI paleoecologists to study ancient environments for clues to future conditions in the Las Vegas Valley climate.
The mammoth's toe cast was made from a skeleton discovered in the Black Rock Desert north of Pyramid Lake.
The dinner will honor 1996 Nevada Medalist Hector DeLuca, a pioneer in biochemistry whose research of vitamin D resulted in new treatments for skin and bone diseases and improved understanding of the way the human body works.
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