A tyrannosaur may be headed for trial.

A Florida fossil dealer who attempted to sell a fossilized tyrannosaur
skeleton at an auction before Mongolia”s president intervened has made it clear
he wants it back.

The dinosaur, a Tarbosaurus bataar, is now the subject of a federal lawsuit filed by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney”s office
seeking to take ownership of the dinosaur so it can be returned to Mongolia,
from which paleontologists and Mongolia President Elbegdorj Tsakhia say it was
taken illegally.

In a court filing on July 27, fossil
dealer Eric Prokopi put the feds on notice that he plans to fight their
attempt to take over ownership of it.

A claim on the fossils
According to the new claim he filed, Prokopi “purchased components of
the (tyrannosaur) on the international market and then spent a year of his life
and considerable expense identifying, restoring and mounting and preparing
it.” 

The document refers to the dinosaur fossils as a “display piece.”

This terminology reflects the work Prokopi put into preparing the mounted
dinosaur, Prokopi”s attorney Michael McCullough said.

“We are just trying to create a factual distinction between a fossil
which is imported and a finished piece which is what was being sold at the
auction,” McCullough said.

Dinosaur dispute
Although the fossils fetched nearly $1.1 million at auction, the sale did
not go through because of the Mongolian claim on the fossils. Paleontologists
have supported this claim, saying that clearly identifiable remains for
Tarbosaurus bataar, an Asian relative of T. rex, are only known to have come
from a
rock formation located within Mongolia.

Prokopi has questioned that, writing in a statement to the media in June
that the bones could have come from elsewhere. “Other than (from) the
diggers, there is no way for anyone to know for certain when or where the
specimen was collected.”

“I”m just a guy in Gainesville, Florida, trying to support my family,
not some international bone smuggler,” he wrote.

The case continues
Had no one put in a claim on the fossils, the federal government would have
taken legal possession of them without a trial. Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney
for the Southern District of New York, has declared his intention to return the
dinosaur to Mongolia.

Anyone else with an interest in the dinosaur has until Aug. 26 to file a
claim. 

According to customs documents, the fossils were shipped to Prokopi in 2010
from Chris Moore of Forge Fossils in England. Moore would have split the
proceeds of the sale with Prokopi, according to a consignment contract with
Heritage Auctions, the auction house that offered the dinosaur for sale. Moore
has not been named in the federal lawsuit. His attorney, John Cahill, told
LiveScience by email: “Mr. Moore is not involved in the case and has no
interest in becoming involved in it.” 

Prokopi”s attorneys McCullough and Peter Tompa declined to discuss the
arrangement between the two fossil dealers.

Fossil law
The international legal landscape for fossils is complicated, since laws
regarding fossil ownership and export vary by country. For instance, Mongolian
law makes fossils found within its boundaries property of the state, but U.S.
law allows for the collection and sale of fossils dug up on private land with
permission by the land owner. But this case involves probable Mongolian fossils
offered for sale in the United States.

“Until this case is tried in court, I don”t know if there are any laws
that have been broken here in the U.S.,” said George Winters, executive
director of the Association of Applied Paleontological Sciences (AAPS), a
professional organization whose members include commercial dealers and
collectors.

Ultimately, Winters said he suspects this case will result in changes to
U.S. law.

“I am assuming that the trade agreements with these countries (such as
Mongolia, which don”t allow for the export of fossils) will at some point in
time be amended to possibly ban the sale or importation of that material,”
he said.

It”s not difficult to find fossils from the same species of dinosaur or
others quite likely taken
from Mongolia and listed in auction catalogs or on eBay.

To help collectors and dealers make sure what they are excavating or buying
is legal, Winters is compiling individual nations” laws on fossils for a
revised edition of Donald Wolberg”s book “Collecting the Natural
World” (Geoscience Press, 1997). Winters also plans to post the
information on the AAPS journal website.

If you buy or collect fossils abroad, knowing the law of the country you are
visiting is important. For example, in China, tourists may legally purchase
fossils, but when they attempt to take their purchases home, they may be
detained, even jailed, since Chinese law does not permit the export of fossils,
Winters said.