Feathers fly over Chinese fossil bird's legality and authenticity

Article Abstract:

It is thought that a bird fossil purchased in 1999 for $80,000 on behalf of the non-profit Dinosaur Museum in Blanding, UT, came from the Liaoning area of northeast China, where many bird-like specimens from the Cretaceous period have been found. Computerized tomography tests indicate that the fossil's tail may have been added in an attempt to boost its black-market value. It is not known how the fossil left China, but Xu Xing, a graduate student at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, China, believes that it must have been smuggled out.

China, Analysis, Identification and classification, Taxonomy (Biology), Fraud in science, Science fraud

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The biggest, wildest fossil market in the west

Article Abstract:

The Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase in Tucson, AZ, attracts around 3,000 dealers. They mainly sell gems and minerals, but there are also some dealers selling fossils. Some observers believe that many of the fossils have been smuggled into the US. Customs officials indicate that the importation, possession and sale of a smuggled fossil could be contrary to a number of federal laws. However, a detailed legal analysis of each case is required to establish whether a crime has been committed.

International trade

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Feathers flying in Beijing

Article Abstract:

A description of events at the meeting of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution in Beijing, China, is presented. The implications of the discovery of a new species of feathered dinosaur in China in 2000 are discussed.

Discovery and exploration, Evolution (Biology), Birds

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