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https://www.sciencemag.org/news/202...esearchers-wonder-if-they-ll-be-able-study-it [subscription]
About 90 million years ago, an unusual shark cruised the shallow sea covering what is now Vallecillo, in the Mexican state of Nuevo León. After the animal died, conditions on the sea floor were just right to preserve its soft tissue and long, winglike fins. Described last month in Science, the shark, named Aquilolamna milarcae, made headlines around the world for its surprising similarities to today’s plankton-eating manta rays.
But for some paleontologists, the publication—by a team of mostly European scientists—also raises thorny questions about the role of private collections in their field and lingering scientific colonialism. The paper originally said the specimen was purchased by a collector, which is illegal under Mexican law. And a public museum founded by the collector, where the fossil was said to be accessible for study by other researchers, is not scheduled to open until later this year. That could mean other scientists “can’t know if what the [authors] described is true or not,” says Omar Regalado Fernández, an independent paleobiologist based in the United Kingdom who first raised concerns about the new paper on Twitter.
“A publication with Mexican material is always gratifying,” says Felisa Aguilar Arellano, a paleontologist at the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), the federal agency that oversees paleontological research in Mexico. However, she says, “It is unethical to claim the existence of a museum” that is not yet finished, and “it is totally clear that [fossils], considered national heritage, are not marketable.”
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This sort of thing bothers paleontologists. Important fossils disappear into private collections & may not be available for study by scientists.
About 90 million years ago, an unusual shark cruised the shallow sea covering what is now Vallecillo, in the Mexican state of Nuevo León. After the animal died, conditions on the sea floor were just right to preserve its soft tissue and long, winglike fins. Described last month in Science, the shark, named Aquilolamna milarcae, made headlines around the world for its surprising similarities to today’s plankton-eating manta rays.
But for some paleontologists, the publication—by a team of mostly European scientists—also raises thorny questions about the role of private collections in their field and lingering scientific colonialism. The paper originally said the specimen was purchased by a collector, which is illegal under Mexican law. And a public museum founded by the collector, where the fossil was said to be accessible for study by other researchers, is not scheduled to open until later this year. That could mean other scientists “can’t know if what the [authors] described is true or not,” says Omar Regalado Fernández, an independent paleobiologist based in the United Kingdom who first raised concerns about the new paper on Twitter.
“A publication with Mexican material is always gratifying,” says Felisa Aguilar Arellano, a paleontologist at the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), the federal agency that oversees paleontological research in Mexico. However, she says, “It is unethical to claim the existence of a museum” that is not yet finished, and “it is totally clear that [fossils], considered national heritage, are not marketable.”
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This sort of thing bothers paleontologists. Important fossils disappear into private collections & may not be available for study by scientists.
