Re: Fossils for Sale? Read before you Flame me!

[Calymene@xxxxxxxxxxx]

These are some of the most intelligent comments I have seen to date on
the paleonet regarding this issue.  I applaud your reasoning that has
escaped so many.  Best regards, Dave Giuseffi   MS Paleoecology'78
and Collector of trilobites and Paleozoic echinoderms, among other things



Dr Lyall I. Anderson wrote:
> 
> 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.