The wealthy university reducs the T. Rex fossils, and left the scientists behind them

Tyrannosaurus Rex The dinosaurs may be the most famous roaming on the ground, but these days, they are in a very modern problem center: the luxurious fossil trade.

According to the study Published in Palaeontologia ElectronicaCommercial fossil collection, walls of many T. Rex Excavations for scientists who were severely impeded the scientific record.

The study reveals realistic statistics: from 141 scientifically beneficial T. Rex The excavations known for their existence, more than half – 71 samples – in private or commercial hands, instead of public museums or approved research institutions. This is a big problem, because in science, repetition is everything. Even if the researchers once studied the excavation, its scientific value decreases if the future teams cannot reach it. If the excavation is locked in a mosque palace or a storage unit, other scientists cannot study it. They cannot confirm the results, test new hypotheses, or based on research.

This is not a marginal problem. Since “Soo” auction T. Rex In 1997 for $ 8.36 million, T. Rex Picassos fossils in the world of excavation-high-class artistic pieces that bring millions of dollars at auction. In 2020, Christie auction from StanOne of the most complete T. Rex The skeletons were found, in order to destroy a standard $ 31.8 million, for a museum in Abu Dhabi. This type of price puts a T. Rex Exclusive fossils for most museums, unless the charitable donor (which, to be real, is not the rule).

Last year, Stan lost his title as the most expensive fossil when billionaire Ken Griffin was It has been purchased Stegosaurus fossil called “Apex” for $ 44.6 million; Griffin lends a summit to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where it is currently being displayed. But from the five T. Rex The excavations sold at auction, only a lot (from Sue) was purchased by a museum.

Commercial Al -Ahfar collectors argue that they save samples from corrosion and discover more excavations than public institutions. Technically, they are right: the excavation scientist Thomas d. Car, who composed the study, that commercial clothes discovered nearly 2.4 times T. Rex Samples from public institutions since the early 1990s. But here is fishing – only 11 % of those fossils commercially discovered in general confidence where science can actually benefit from them. The rest is placed in living rooms, in storage units for value accumulation, or made to serve other interests other than science.

Worse, many excavations purchased from the private or commercial sector are the most scientifically valuable: events and the branch, which constitute the less understanding stage of T. Rex development. 20 percent of private ownership excavations are included in this category, according to Kar. Without reaching these samples, scientists cannot build a reliable image of how T. Rex It has grown, matured, or even if the species showed dual -form (differences between males and females). According to the previous teams, a sample size is required from 70 to 100 samples of improper dinosaurs for adults measuring the possibility of sexual inactive in the population with a high degree of certainty.

Car study also faces a problem in publishing studies reviewed by the peer on the basis of excavations owned by private ownership-which mainly gives scientific legitimacy to the data that cannot be reached. While defenders on the market argue that fossils often end in museums, Car data indicates otherwise: only a small part of the ownership of the private sector T. Rex The excavations are absolutely donated or sold to public institutions.

“Until now, none of the owners of the private sector T. Rex Carr wrote: “However, enough time has not been approved to assess whether there is enough time to assess if T. Rex Excavations will be from a special group to general confidence in direction or occurring at all. “

T. Rex Scientifically, but its excavations have become a threatened species. Unless the scientific understanding of the terrible reptiles becomes a greater priority than the value of the dollar, we may see the science of science T. Rex Go to the Dodo road. I assume that the feather birds disappear together.