A fossil records the history of life. The discovery and excavation
of fossils are of great significance to understanding the evolution
of the earth and studying the ancient geography, paleoclimate and
conditions for forming minerals. In recent years, however, fossil
smuggling in China has intensified and many precious fossils have
disappeared onto the black market. At the end of 2001, a photo of a
dinosaur fossil appeared on the Internet, which aroused great
concern around the world. Within one month, the
Nature
magazine of Britain and
Science of the United States carried
four articles in succession talking about the psittacosaurus
fossil.
The picture arousing world attention is the fossil of a
psittacosaurus, a kind of dinosaur which is 1.8 meters long and 1
meter high, with bristles on its tail. Ferns were their main food.
After years of being underground, the photo was e-mailed by a
Canadian fossil distributor to some of those on the DINOSAUR
Internet mailing list. What makes the fossil unique is that there
is a cluster of bristles at the tip of its strong tail.
Paleontologists aren't sure of the significance of this hair
cluster, but are guessing it might be a primitive feature of all
dinosaurs.
"If this is true, the significance will be unusual," said Luis
Chiappe of Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.
Dinosaurs are divided into two orders: Saurischia and Ornithischia.
The psittacosaurus belongs to the latter. Scientists have found
some dinosaurs from Saurischia order have skin derivations, but not
the Ornithischia. If the psittacosaurus proves to have had
feathers, it will be a great progress in dinosaur studies.
Underground Trade Obstructs Scientific Research
The psittacosaurus fossil sample was thought to have been found in
western Liaoning Province of China, where a large number of fossils
of feathered dinosaurs and some well-preserved fossils dating back
125 million years had been discovered. Zhou Zhonghe, researcher
with Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
under Chinese
Academy of Sciences (CAS), thought the psittacosaurus fossil
might have been smuggled out of China several years ago.
Up
until now, the fossil has never been mentioned in any conferences
or articles. The photo of the fossil was shown to a few people at
the annual vertebrate meeting of North America years ago.
Paleontologists are cautious about a sample obtained from fossil
smugglers.
Mark Norell, an expert in Asian dinosaurs from the American Museum
of Natural History in New York, pointed out that private fossil
trading usually hides the significance of scientific discoveries.
No example is more convincing than the psittacosaurus.
"The sample may change our knowledge about dinosaurs, but we can
confirm nothing at present, for nobody has studied or published the
relic. The fossil should be returned to China, to Chinese museums
where people can study it," Norell said.
According to Zhou Zhonghe, established museums worldwide don't want
to have any connection with a smuggled fossil, for they are not
permitted to get involved with fossils of unknown origin. Norell
said they will never allow the fossil to enter their museum.
Meanwhile, it is difficult to publish scientific achievements
obtained this way in reputable magazines. Most magazines ask
authors to provide relevant materials about each relic, for
example, the relic code number. Generally speaking, editors in
established magazines will not consider articles without relic ode
numbers.
Since 1980, many fossils belonging to over 20 biological categories
have been found in western Liaoning Province, including the ancient
bird fossil group, Confuciusornis -- the earliest bird in the world
with beak, Laioning bird -- the oldest ancestor of modern bird and
the Beipiao (a city in Liaoning Province) bird and
sinornithosaurus, which are unique in the world. Also, the fossils
include those of early period mammals, the frog, lizard, tortoise,
dragonfly and the earliest angiosperm. The fossil bed in Liaoning
has dwarfed all others -- including the Solnhofen area of Germany
where Archaeopteryx fossil was found -- whether in species, numbers
of fossil or exquisiteness. The fossil bed has much to do with the
frequent volcanic activity at an earlier time. Rapid burial kept
skeletons intact, and some superbly preserved fossils even include
impressions of animal skin and internal organs. This provides rare
evidence for the study of primitive birds and other living things
as well as restruction of ancient environment.
This explains why the selling and reselling and smuggling of
fossils are prevalent in this area. At the end of the 1980s, some
businessmen discovered the value of the fish and insect fossils, so
they called on the local farmers to go into mountains to dig them
up. Then they collected the fossils at a very low price. After
passing through hands of several persons, the fossils was smuggled
out of China. At the beginning of the 1990s, more and more bird
fossils of the Mesozoic era were found, so smugglers turned their
eyes to the rather rare species of bird and dinosaur fossils.
Losing a fossil equals losing a period of history. The loss of a
precious fossil will bring immeasurable financial loss to a country
and its irreplaceable piece of history.
Protecting fossils is to protect science and national cultural
heritage. Zhou Zhonghe, CAS researcher with Institute of Vertebrate
Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, felt great regret over the
losing an example of ancient extinct life. The fossil would have
enabled great achievements by Chinese scientists through their hard
work, but smuggling of the fossil has caused great losses to China
and even the world. As a paleontologist, Zhou urged the Chinese
government to strengthen protection of the fossil bed in western
Liaoning Province.
Fossil Protection Law Needs Perfecting
Fossil smuggling cases in recent years have exposed defects in
Chinese laws and regulations in protecting fossils. Illegal fossil
dealers purchased fossils like mad from local farmers, and then
sold them to private collectors or some museums in foreign
countries. What should be noted is that the channel, number and
body of the smuggling have changed recently. Smuggling has made its
way into normal transport, while smugglers have come to include top
intellectuals, even experts in paleontology.
Another reason leading to increased fossil smuggling is loose
market management and weak ideas about fossil protection. The state
has stipulated that any institution or individual is prohibited
from excavating, selling or exporting fossils of ancient extinct
life. However, many such fossils can be seen on tourist souvenir
markets in Yunnan, Shandong, Hubei, Henan, Sichuan and Liaoning
provinces.
At
the beginning of the 1990s, many dinosaur eggs were found in the
Xixia area of Henan Province, which provide precious field
materials for the paleontology study. However, due to imperfect
management, the discovery ignited a new round of smuggling. The
dinosaur eggs, with a history of more than 200 million years, were
sold for only several to 100 yuan (US$12.08) in Henan, but each egg
could bring over US$10,000 in foreign countries if the dinosaur egg
contained an embryo. Some fossils with important research value are
priceless.
The Notice on Strengthening Protection of Paleontology Fossil
issued by the Ministry of Land and Resources stipulated "the
Ministry of Land and Resources take uniform supervision and
management over paleontology fossils in China. Any institution or
individual is prohibited from excavating, selling or exporting
fossils of ancient extinct life in a private way." However, the
Notice did not stipulate clearly what kind of legal punishment
should be given to fossil smugglers. Therefore, it wasn't as
effective as it could have been.
Immediate attention needs to be given to strengthen fossil bed
protection, enhance the legal system construction regarding fossil
protection and prevent reckless excavation and smuggling of
fossil.
(科技日報 [Science and Technology
Daily], January 10, 2002 by Yan Hong, translated by Li Jinhui for
china.org.cn)