Ethics in Paleontology Fossils help researchers understand t

Ethics in Paleontology

Fossils help researchers understand the evolution of many lineages of plants and animals. But, who actually owns fossils? What if an important fossil (say a transitional fossil like Tiktaalik or Basilosaurus) were found by an amateur fossil hunter and sold to a private collector? Should there be regulation of fossil hunting to prevent loss of scientific information? Should all \"important\" fossils be turned over to museums?

Read over the article here: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Dino-Wars.html?c=y&page=1 (Links to an external site.) and then weigh in.

Solution

Fossils help researchers understand the evolution of many lineages of plants and animals. But, who actually owns fossils?

Answer:

The study of branch of science concerned with fossil animals and plants is called as paleontology.

However paleontology is not just \'digging up fossils.\' The difficult part is knowing whether it is legal and/or ethical to do so. If no information is recorded about the fossil when it is removed from the ground, the specimen is lost to science. Over the years, much information has been lost about fossils through innocent collecting by tourists on vacation, commercial collecting, looting, and haphazard data collection.

What if an important fossil were found by an amateur fossil hunter and sold to a private collector?

Should there be regulation of fossil hunting to prevent loss of scientific information? Should all \"important\" fossils be turned over to museums?

Answer:

At one point in time, concerns about fossil ethics were mainly felt by scientists, but now with strict collecting laws and permitting requirements in place, unethical collecting may lead to a stiff fine, and even imprisonment.

Guidelines from the Ethics Education Committee for collecting, documenting and curating fossils: