Recent Geoethical Issues in Moroccan and Peruvian Paleontology

Gutiérrez-Marco, J. C.; Sá, Artur A.; García‐Bellido, Diego C.; Chacaltana, César A.

doi:10.4401/ag-7475

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…While exporters usually obtain a large income from fossil exports (estimated at US$100 000 per year), these fossils are originally found and excavated by local people living in marginalized areas who derive very limited income from these specimens [ 125 ]. As a result, Morocco has been the source of a great number of exceptional specimens without any contextual information on the geography or geology, a large number of them being described and published by a commercial collector lacking a scientific background, and/or without any participation from Moroccan research institutions [ 126 ]. In 2019, the Moroccan government drafted a decree with specific recommendations regarding authorized exports and loans—a step forward regarding the protection of palaeontological heritage as well as the livelihoods of those dependent on it [ 125 ].…”

Section: Beyond the Sabinas And Araripe Basinsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digging deeper into colonial palaeontological practices in modern day Mexico and Brazil

et al. 2022

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Scientific practices stemming from colonialism, whereby middle- and low-income countries supply data for high-income countries and the contributions of local expertise are devalued, are still prevalent today in the field of palaeontology. In response to these unjust practices, countries such as Mexico and Brazil adopted protective laws and regulations during the twentieth century to preserve their palaeontological heritage. However, scientific colonialism is still reflected in many publications describing fossil specimens recovered from these countries. Here, we present examples of ‘palaeontological colonialism’ from publications on Jurassic–Cretaceous fossils from NE Mexico and NE Brazil spanning the last three decades. Common issues that we identified in these publications are the absence of both fieldwork and export permit declarations and the lack of local experts among authorships. In Mexico, access to many fossil specimens is restricted on account of these specimens being housed in private collections, whereas a high number of studies on Brazilian fossils are based on specimens illegally reposited in foreign collections, particularly in Germany and Japan. Finally, we outline and discuss the wider academic and social impacts of these research practices, and propose exhaustive recommendations to scientists, journals, museums, research institutions and government and funding agencies in order to overcome these practices.

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Section: Beyond the Sabinas And Araripe Basinsmentioning

confidence: 99%