According to a studypublishedinPalaeontologia Electronica, commercial fossil collecting has walled off so manyT.
rexfossils to scientists that it has severely hindered the scientific record.
The study reveals a sobering stat: of the 141 scientifically usefulT.
Sue the T. rex.Photo: JJxFile/Wikimedia Commons
Thats a major problem, because in science, replicability is everything.
Even if researchers once studied a fossil, its scientific value drops if future teams cant access it.
If a fossil is locked in a collectors mansion or a storage unit, other scientists cant study it.
They cant confirm findings, test new hypotheses, or build on the research.
And this isnt a fringe issue.
Since the blockbuster auction of Sue theT.
rexin 1997 for $8.36 million,T.
rexfossils have become the Picassos of the paleontology worldhigh-status art pieces fetching many millions of dollars at auction.
In 2020,Christies auctioned off Stan, one of the most completeT.
rexskeletons ever found, for a record-shattering $31.8 million, to a museum in Abu Dhabi.
That kind of price tag puts aT.
But of the fiveT.
rexfossils sold at auction, only one lot (that of Sue) was purchased by a museum.
Commercial fossil collectors argue that theyre rescuing specimens from erosion and uncovering more fossils than public institutions.
rexspecimens than public institutions since the early 1990s.
Twenty percent of privately held fossils fall into this category, according to Carr.
Without access to these specimens, scientists cant build a reliable picture of howT.
rexgrew, matured, or even whether the species showed sexual dimorphism (differences between males and females).
rexfossils are ever donated or sold to public institutions.
So far, none of the privately ownedT.
However, not enough time has elapsed to assess if transfer ofT.
rexfossils from a private collection to a public trust will be a trend or ever happen.
T. rexis long extinct, but scientifically speaking, its fossils are becoming an endangered species.
rexgo the way of the dodo.
Birds of a feather disappear together, I suppose.
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