{"id":15712,"date":"2025-08-14T12:26:53","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T02:26:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/?p=15712"},"modified":"2025-08-14T16:25:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T06:25:39","slug":"science-versus-ownership-the-true-value-of-fossils","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/science-versus-ownership-the-true-value-of-fossils\/","title":{"rendered":"Science versus ownership: The true value of fossils"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year, a Stegosaurus<\/em> nicknamed ‘Apex’ sold at auction for US$40.5 million<\/a>. A juvenile\u00a0Ceratosaurus<\/em>\u00a0fetched\u00a0US$30.5 million just last month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Supporters of these sales argue that they\u2019re harmless, or\u00a0even good for science<\/a>. Others compare\u00a0fossils to art objects, praising their beauty or historical charm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As paleontologists, we say plainly: these views could not be more misguided.<\/p>\n

Fossils are neither art objects nor trophies. They are scientific data that provide a tangible record of\u00a0Earth\u2019s deep history<\/a>. Fossils are essential tools for understanding evolution, extinction, climate change and the origins and disappearances of ecosystems.<\/p>\n

Their true value lies not in their price tags, but in what they teach. Of course, some fossils are beautiful. So are endangered white rhinoceros, but no one argues that rhinos should be auctioned off to the highest bidder. A fossil\u2019s worth isn\u2019t defined by it\u2019s beauty, but by its permanent scientific accessibility.<\/p>\n

Paleontologists are historians of deep time, studying life through millions of years. Our field is a science built upon the same fundamental principles as any other scientific disciplines. Data must be transparent, accessible, replicable and verifiable. For that to happen in paleontology, fossil specimens must be housed in public institutions with permanent collections.<\/p>\n

Paleontological research is only scientific if the specimens under study are catalogued in public institutions that ensure access in perpetuity, so that other researchers can examine and continually assess and reassess the data fossils preserve.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what makes the 1997 auction of the\u00a0Tyrannosaurus rex<\/em>\u00a0specimen known as Sue different from today\u2019s fossil auctions. Though it was a private sale, Sue was\u00a0purchased by a public-private consortium<\/a>, which included the Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH) in Chicago, the Walt Disney Company, McDonald\u2019s Corporation and private donors. Sue\u2019s skeleton was immediately placed in the public trust at the FMNH, an accredited museum, and formally catalogued.<\/p>\n

Sue didn\u2019t vanish into the private collection of an anonymous buyer. Instead, the\u00a0T. rex<\/em>\u00a0became\u00a0an accessible scientific resource for scientists and the public<\/a>. This is exactly what should happen with all scientifically significant fossils.<\/p>\n

Increasingly, some of the most remarkable fossils unearthed have gone into\u00a0the vaults of private collectors<\/a>. Even when buyers temporarily loan specimens to museums, as with Apex the\u00a0Stegosaurus<\/em>, these fossils remain off limits to meaningful scientific study.<\/p>\n

Leading scientific journals\u00a0won\u2019t publish research<\/a>\u00a0based on them for a simple reason: science demands permanent access.<\/p>\n

Paleontological science depends on transparency, reproducibility and data reproducibility. A privately held fossil, no matter how spectacular, can disappear at any time on the whim of an owner. That uncertainty makes it impossible to guarantee that we can verify findings, repeat analyses, or use new technologies or methods on original material in the future.<\/p>\n

Contrast that with fossils that are held in the public trust, like Sue the\u00a0T. rex<\/em>. Sue\u2019s skeleton has been on display for nearly 20 years, and has been studied again and again. And as technology evolves, we address new scientific questions about ancient remains and deepen our understanding of the distant past, one study at a time.<\/p>\n

It may be tempting to justify the commercial fossil trade by\u00a0pointing to dinosaur-themed movies and toys<\/a>, as if pop culture is a stand-in for real science. That is akin to arguing that paint-by-numbers kits are a good substitute for the art held in the Louvre. High-profile sales mislead the public by promoting the idea that completeness or large size are the only things that make a fossil significant.<\/p>\n

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology<\/a>, the world\u2019s largest organisation of professional paleontologists, has created ethical guidelines<\/a> to reflect professional research standards. Critics have called them too strict, saying the rules should be ‘loosened<\/a>‘. But loosening our ethical standards would mean abandoning the very core of the scientific method in favour of convenience and profit.<\/p>\n

It is\u00a0unethical to sell human fossils or cultural artifacts to private collectors<\/a>. The same standard should apply to dinosaurs and other fossil vertebrates. Fossils, whether common or spectacular and rare, are an irreplaceable record of our planet\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

Science should not be for sale. We suggest that fossil-loving millionaires and billionaires put their money where it can make a transformative difference. Instead of buying one skeleton, we encourage these fans to support the research, museums, students and scientific societies that breathe new life into ancient bones.<\/p>\n

One single fossil\u2019s price tag could fund years of groundbreaking discoveries, education and exhibitions. That\u2019s a legacy worth leaving, especially at a time when\u00a0funding for science is dwindling<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This article was originally published in The Conversation<\/em><\/a>. It is co-authored by:<\/strong> Kenshu Shimada Professor of Environmental Science and Biological Sciences, DePaul University; Kristi Curry Rogers, DeWitt Wallace Professor of Biology and Geology, Macalester College; and Stuart Sumida, Professor of Biology, California State University, San Bernardino.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Photo by Aditya Vyas <\/a><\/strong><\/em>on Unsplash.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last year, a Stegosaurus nicknamed ‘Apex’ sold at auction for US$40.5 million. A juvenile\u00a0Ceratosaurus\u00a0fetched\u00a0US$30.5 million just last month. Supporters of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":837,"featured_media":15714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[371],"coauthors":[796],"class_list":["post-15712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-health","tag-science"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/837"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15712"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15717,"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15712\/revisions\/15717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15712"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=15712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}