The fossil trade is the purchase and sale of

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

. This is at times done illegally with stolen fossils, and important scientific specimens are lost each year. The trade is lucrative, and many celebrities collect fossils. The fossil trade has attracted criticism from many paleontologists, who regard the private ownership of fossils to be damaging to science.

History

Ever since the early 19th century, there has been a considerable commercial interest in fossils. The increasing growth of the fossil market in recent decades is often traced back to the auction of the ''

Tyrannosaurus ''Tyrannosaurus'' () is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The type species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' ( meaning 'king' in Latin), often shortened to ''T. rex'' or colloquially t-rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It lived througho ...

'' skeleton known as Sue in 1997 for $8.3 million. According to the head of science and natural history at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

, James Hyslop, the market in fossils has been growing consistently since 2007. Due to the increased awareness of the lucrative nature of fossils, many landowners have become more reluctant to work with scientists, preferring to instead offer prospecting rights to the highest bidder. The international trade in fossils for use in

alternative medicine Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are ...

, commonly referred to as "dragon bone", was worth US$700 million annually as of 2010. Fossil poaching is common in Mongolia. In five years, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement seized $44 million worth of smuggled fossils. Fossils from Mongolia and China, which are illegal to export, are often claimed to be from Central Asia. Fossils sold through the fossil trade are often composites of multiple specimens, not necessarily from a single species, combined to look like one skeleton.

Legality

Whether the trade in fossils is legal depends on the legislation in a given jurisdiction, and the legal classification of fossils is highly fragmented: depending on local laws, fossil might be considered as minerals, antiquities, cultural artifacts, fossils in their own right, or not fall into any of these categories at all. In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, it is legal to sell fossils collected on private land. In Mongolia and China the export of fossils is illegal.

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

considers all fossils as federal assets and prohibits their trade since 1942, banned the permanent exports of holotypes and other fossils of national interest in 1990, and requires permits by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation for permanent exports.

Ethics and controversy

The

Society of Vertebrate Paleontology The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) is a professional organization that was founded in the United States in 1940 to advance the science of vertebrate paleontology around the world. Mission and activities SVP has about 2,300 members inte ...

, an international association of professional and amateur vertebrate paleontologists, believes that scientifically important fossils—especially but not exclusively those found on public lands—should be held in perpetuity in the public trust, preferably in a museum or research institution, where they can benefit the scientific community as a whole as well as future generations. In the United States, Paleontological Resources Preservation Act. S. 546 and H. R. 2416 were introduced in the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

with SVP's full support. Many commercial fossil collectors and dealers believe that such policies are a breach of their rights. The argument has also been put forth that there are too few professional paleontologists to collect and preserve fossils currently exposed to the elements, and that it is therefore essential that private citizens be allowed to collect them for the sake of their preservation. Eric Scott, the Curator of Paleontology for the San Bernardino County Museum, argues that 1) private citizens and amateur (not for profit) collectors can and do participate frequently in the permitted recovery and preservation of significant vertebrate fossils, and 2) preservation of significant fossils does not require or mandate ''sale'' of those fossils. The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology's by-laws state that the society does not condone the trade of scientifically significant vertebrate fossils, except for the purpose of keeping fossils in the public trust. The illegal export of fossils has increasingly attracted criticism, considered by some a form of science colonialism. As a result, several fossils have been repatriated, and many more are being reclaimed by their countries of origin. Notably, the fossil '' "Ubirajara jubatus"'', illegally exported from Brazil and deposited in a German museum, was described by a team of German scientists. Their paper has been retracted, and the fossil has been returned to Brazil. In addition, some of these trafficked fossils are artificially altered to increase their commercial value, or may carry less information of their exact origin than fossils extracted following the law. * The

spinosaurid Spinosauridae (or spinosaurids) is a clade or Family (taxonomy), family of tetanuran theropod dinosaurs comprising ten to seventeen known genera. Spinosaurid fossils have been recovered worldwide, including Africa, Europe, South America, and Asia. ...

''Irritator challengeri'' was infamously named to reflect "irritation, the feeling the authors felt (understated here) when discovering that the snout had been artificially elongated." * A 2023 description of a turtle fossil deposited in Switzerland revealed the bones present to be a chimeric fabrications consisting of remains from two different genera, ''

Santanachelys ''Santanachelys gaffneyi'' is an extinct species of sea turtle. It is the only species in the genus ''Santanachelys'', which itself is a member of the extinct family Protostegidae. The species was first described from a 20-centimeter long foss ...

'' and ''

Araripemys ''Araripemys'' is an extinct marine turtle genus from 112 to 109 million years ago, in the Early Cretaceous Crato and Romualdo Formations of the Araripe Basin in northeastern Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, ...

'', plus unidentifiable fragments. * A reassessment of the type material of the mosasaurid '' Xenodens calminechari'' in 2024 suggested that teeth had been artificially placed into the

maxilla In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxil ...

of the fossil material which had been obtained from an unsupervised commercial excavation. Forgeries like these might make fossils easier to sell to tourists and even to scientists not trained to identify the fakes.

Notable incidents

A hoax specimen composed of parts of genuine ''

Yanornis ''Yanornis'' () is an extinct genus of fish-eating Early Cretaceous birds. Two species have been described, both from Liaoning province, China: ''Yanornis martini'', based on several fossils found in the 120-million-year-old Jiufotang Formation ...

'' and ''

Microraptor ''Microraptor'' (Greek language, Greek, μικρός, ''mīkros'': "small"; Latin language, Latin, ''raptor'': "one who seizes") is a genus of small, four-winged dromaeosaurid dinosaurs. Numerous well-preserved fossil specimens have been recovere ...

'' fossils obtained by a museum through the fossil trade was originally interpreted in 1999 as a "missing link" between dinosaurs and birds and planned to be named "

Archaeoraptor "Archaeoraptor" is the informal generic name for a fossil chimera from China in an article published in ''National Geographic'' magazine in 1999. The magazine claimed that the fossil was a " missing link" between birds and terrestrial theropo ...

", but was identified as a hoax before being formally published in a scientific journal. A ''

'' skeleton nicknamed " Stan" sold at an auction in 2020 for $31.8 million, a record-setting price. The skull of a ''Tyrannosaurus'' relative called ''

Tarbosaurus bataar ''Tarbosaurus'' ( ; meaning "alarming lizard") is a genus of large tyrannosaurid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous epoch, about 70 million years ago (Maastrichtian age). It contains the single type species: ''Tarbosaurus b ...

'' illegally exported from Mongolia was purchased by the actor

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Nicolas Cage, various accolades, including an Academy A ...

for $276,000 in 2007. When contacted by U.S. authorities, Cage voluntarily handed over the specimen for repatriation to Mongolia. A smuggled skeleton of ''Tarbosaurus bataar'', which is also called ''Tyrannosaurus bataar'', was the subject of the ''in rem'' case ''

United States v. One Tyrannosaurus Bataar Skeleton ''United States v. One Tyrannosaurus Bataar Skeleton'' (1:13−cv−00857) is a 2013 United States District Court for the Southern District of New York judgment regarding a requested order from the United States government to seize an imported M ...

''. The fossil was being auctioned in the United States, and was returned to Mongolia in 2013. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

specimen of the dinosaur '' Halszkaraptor'' had been obtained through the fossil trade by 2011. Due to its provenance, several scientists initially expressed concern that it was a hoax, but scanning suggests the specimen was not tampered with. On 18 July 2024 ''

Stegosaurus ''Stegosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of herbivorous, four-legged, armored dinosaur from the Late Jurassic, characterized by the distinctive kite-shaped upright plates along their backs and spikes on their tails. Fossils of the genus have been fo ...

Apex The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics) A-Bomb Abomination Absorbing Man Abraxas Abyss Abyss is the name of two characters appearing in Ameri ...

was auctioned for $44,600,000. It sold eleven times bove pre-sale estimates to American billionaire financier Kenneth Griffin and became the most expensive fossil ever sold.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite news , first1 = Sophie , last1 = Haigney , title = Once again, fossils are hot , url = https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/18/arts/fossils-private-sale-collectors.html , url-access = subscription , work = The New York Times , date = 2021-06-18 , access-date = 2021-10-23 , archive-date = 2021-10-22 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211022203633/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/18/arts/fossils-private-sale-collectors.html , url-status = live {{cite web, url=https://vertpaleo.org/statement-regarding-the-sale-of-vertebrate-fossils-online/, title=Statement regarding the sale of vertebrate fossils online, publisher=The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, access-date=2021-10-23, archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211023192222/https://vertpaleo.org/statement-regarding-the-sale-of-vertebrate-fossils-online/ , archive-date = 2021-10-23 {{cite news , first1 = Beth , last1 = Timmins , date = 2019-11-23 , title = Dinosaurs: restoring Mongolia's fossil heritage , work = BBC News , url = https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50131770 , access-date = 2021-10-23 , archive-date = 2021-10-23 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211023200553/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50131770 , url-status = live {{Cite journal, volume = 45, pages = 323–332, last1 = van der Geer, first1 = Alexandra, last2 = Dermitzakis, first2 = Michael, title = Fossils in pharmacy: from "snake eggs" to "Saint's bones"; an overview, journal = Hellenic Journal of Geosciences, date = 2010 {{cite news , title = Nicolas Cage returns stolen dinosaur skull he bought for $276,000 , work = NBC news , date = 2015-12-22 , access-date = 2021-10-23 , url = https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/celebrity/nicolas-cage-returns-stolen-dinosaur-skull-he-bought-276-000-n484521 , archive-date = 2021-10-23 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211023200554/https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/celebrity/nicolas-cage-returns-stolen-dinosaur-skull-he-bought-276-000-n484521 , url-status = live {{cite magazine , title = Bones of contention , first1 = Paige , last1 = Williams , date = 2013-01-20 , magazine = The New Yorker , url = https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/01/28/bones-of-contention-paige-williams , url-access = subscription , access-date = 2023-01-17 , archive-date = 2022-12-26 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221226043659/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/01/28/bones-of-contention-paige-williams , url-status = live {{cite news , first1 = Ed , last1 = Yong , title = How to tell if a dinosaur is fake , work = The Atlantic , date = 2017-12-08 , url = https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/12/how-to-tell-if-a-dinosaur-is-fake/547886/ , url-access = subscription , access-date = 2023-01-17 , archive-date = 2022-08-12 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220812110148/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/12/how-to-tell-if-a-dinosaur-is-fake/547886/ , url-status = live Fossil trade Trade by commodity

History

Legality

Ethics and controversy

Notable incidents

See also

References