Re: paleonet Burgess Shale Fossil Theft

[James Davison <jamesdavison@xxxxxxxx>]

Paleoneteers,

It's too bad that we can't reconcile the interests of "collectors"
versus "scientists."   They are complimentary -- the former can provide
desperately needed money to excavate and restore fossils, and the latter
provide the scientific information that generates even more
fascination.  It would be nice to create a huge database "registry" of
privately held fossils, in which all scientific information about them
was available for statistical work.  A "registered" fossil would become
more valuable than a bootleg fossil -- and most collectors would be
proud to know that their specimens were part of legitimate science.  It
would also help build relationships between wealthy collectors.  Many
take better care of their fossils than museums, and might end up
donating them to museums after their death.  Finally, cash-strapped
museums could raise money by selling extra "registered" specimens.
Something like this already goes on with meteorite collectors.  Maybe
all that is needed is the proper organization.

-- JD

Pristis@aol.com wrote:

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