Inside the Battle Over Dinosaur Fossil Hunting | WSJ

Should anyone be able to dig up and sell dinosaur fossils? It’s a question that’s increasingly being asked as the commercial fossil market booms. WSJ met with fossil hunters and scientists to learn more about this niche market and the big bucks at stake. Photo: Alexander Hotz/WSJ

More from the Wall Street Journal:

#WSJ #Dinosaurs #Paleontology

[Williamohightower]

the closest thing to fossil hunting ive done was in 1st grade digging into the ground and thinking red clay was dried up blood from dinosaurs lol

[sieve]

I don't know about you guys but seeing those beautiful dinosaurs properly mounted and displayed like that makes me cry it's so beautiful how well placed together everything is, it's hard to not imagine what it was like in real life. So beautiful.

[keep]

That old man is practically using WSJ as his platform to sell, I could definitely hear the sales pitch.

[SamVillano]

“I wear many hats.” — man in cowboy hat

[sanchittiwari]

Atleast in US u have museums where u can restore and preserve fossils. Here in India we didn't even have national museum for fossils. Here paleontology is considered as a dying science with only 25 30 people left. Hard times here in India. Still no media reports and no government support. True story from a budding paleo scientist from India. God Bless World.!

[commonsense]

Here is an idea!
Why doesn’t museums just have their own teams digging for dinosaurs. Like they could also sell the dinosaurs that they aren’t interested in keeping for themselves?

[vonkitai]

Let me get this straight.

The guy offered to sell the baby T.Rex for 1 million to the AMNH, and they rejected the offer (too rich for their blood/not a good enough fossil).

Then the guy puts it up for sale on eBay for 2.95 million, and they're outraged.

If 1 million is too rich for their blood or if the fossil isn't worth that, then why would these museum scientists/curators expect that the fossil could be bought for almost two million more than what the seller originally asked them for? The only explanation that fits the museum curators' behavior and their response to his eBay listing is that the museum curators were trying to lowball him and lied to him about the true worth of the fossil.

Museums typically have vast collections that go unseen by every visitor. Perhaps if they're so short on funds to purchase new fossils that they haven't yet examined, they should sell off some of their collections to raise the money.

[bobgolden]

The open market can bring far more dinosaurs to us all, and far more fakes, too. Good piece, WSJ.

[CantThinkofaCoolOne]

Dr. Norell seems to have a great attitude with whats going on. Great piece this WSJ.

[Skersaroony]

If the museums want fossils then they should have the highest bid or find it themselves. People shouldn’t be forced to “donate” fossils that they worked hard to find and dig up.

[yukii]

knowing that the “Son of Samson” skull isn’t being studied right now is honestly so depressing

[citavalo]

I would like to privately own a fossil to but to be honest, I’m more on the side of the paleontologists.

[MeargleSchmeargle]

I'll never buy another fossil. It's a lot more rewarding to find them yourself.

[ryziemac]

I can understand in one way. As the scientists want you to do all the work finding rare fossils and other things. Then they want to take them from you free of charge. That’s why these people do what they do and sell privately. If they put there hands in there pockets maybe they would get all the good finds.

[alansdorsetfossils]

I think you are bang on right. It's a shame when spectacular fossils command a price too high for museums, national collections to afford. The more money the more people will look and the more will be found and saved before the weather or the sea destroys them. The professional paleontologists often don"t have the time or resources to find these rare fossils. Better they are saved and cherished by someone that destroyed by the elements. The professional bodies should approach these wealthy individuals, perhaps they will lone them or allow precision casts to be taken.

[Metacognition]

Anthony Hopkins is a fossil hunter now.

[TheNemo]

I can relate to this video. I'm an amateur fossil hunter. I found numerous vertebrate and invertebrate fossils including museum quality giant ammonites, shark tooth, mosasaur verts, etc.

[M_Faraday]

The same thing has been going on in the humanities for decades. People buy rare books, artwork, etc.

[CaireneRevival]

No we shouldn't just get real with it or just get used to it. Palaeontology, like archaeology, is part of our history. Palaeontology, like archaeology, is public interest. Palaeontology, like archaeology, is publicly owned, and therefore there should be laws to fully protect them along with every other science of the same nature.

[rexythet-rex]

I’m a amutur paleontologist, and I haven’t found anything yet, but if I found ammonite I would keep it or maybe sell it, but a baby t-rex I would send to a museum