Fossil Collecting Ethics I

ask you to describe your fossil find, and may want for you to show him or her where you found it, so be sure you mark the location. The paleontologist will then examine the fossils and determine whether this is something that needs to be excavated. If the paleontologist determines that the bones are too fragmentary or there is not enough material to be useful to scientists, he may tell you that you can dig up the bones yourself. Then you will have some interesting fossils in your collection, and you will know that you are not depriving paleontologists of the information that can be learned from the bones, or other people from enjoying them as well.

I will be writing more articles about the ethics of collecting fossils in the future.

For more information:

"A Dinosaur for the Mantel" by Virginia Morell Natural History, October 1998 -- about fossil sales

"Digging for Dinosaur Gold" by David Roberts Smithsonian, March 1998 -- about the legal battles behind the T. rex discovery

Go To Page: 1 2 3

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic