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Dear 'group of people with a common shared interest in palaeontology', Roger Fry posted a message yesterday which got me thinking (this is both good and constructive!). On Tue, 9 Sep 1997 21:08:01 -0700 (PDT) "Roger F. Fry" <Roger_F_Fry@compuserve.com> wrote: > While I decry the theft and unlawful removable of specimens from the > field, I can not and will not support a ban on the commercial sale of > fossils. > > For example, I regularly collect a lot of common _Macraster sp_ (heart > urchins) and _Neithea sp_ (scallops) and donate them to a museum for > resale to the public (children mostly). While I may not be getting paid to > do this voluntary collecting, I could be considered a commercial > paleotologist as the fossils I collect are ultimately sold for a profit. <<TEXT CUT>> > Roger Fry > avocational, amateur, extra academic, commercialist, crass capitalist, or > whatever you wish to call me Perhaps as folk who view things from the perspective of deep time, we should realise that ANY fossil material which is collected be it commercially or otherwise is more likely to come to palaeontological scrutiny EVENTUALLY, than stuff left eroding in the field. POINT 1. Part of the problem as I see it is this. We all have our favourite fossils that we work on. I'm guilty of it as well with xiphosurans (horseshoe crabs). When a new find comes to light it is all too easy to swing into the 'THIS IS A FABULOUS RARE FIND WHICH MUST AUTOMATICALLY FIND ITSELF TRANSPORTED TO AN ACCESSIONED MUSEUM COLLECTION' mode. That really cheeses collectors off and quite rightly so. They have put in the hard graft and expense of going looking. However, careful and tactful negotiations, perhaps with the allure of actually working on the material alongside a palaeo worker and finding out more about it often pays dividends. Some collectors I know personally have drawn up wills which state that upon their death their collections (most of which are far better documented than my own I may add) are to be handed over to certain museums. POINT 2. Consider. Someone who pays hard cash for fossil material is not likely to bin their collection (unless it suddenly disagrees with their religion) and as such, there is a chance that this material will eventually end up in an establishment where it can be looked at. Perhaps not by you, perhaps not by me, but we should learn not to be greedy as to what we can and cannot study in the short term. Remember when we are dead and gone, with a little good fortune (or is that better funding?) there will be a few more generations of palaeontologists to pick up from where we left off! The candy we can't have today might find itself in their sticky paws.... Hope this strikes a chord with someone somewhere, Lyall ---------------------- Dr Lyall I. Anderson Dept. of Geology & Petroleum Geology Kings College University of Aberdeen AB9 2UE Visit the Fossil Surgery... http://members.tripod.com/~Lyall/index.html and join the Paleo Ring.
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