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Fossils for Sale: Is It Good for Science?
by Neal L. Larson

Introduction
People love to collect everything from rocks and flowers to antiques and art. It is the nature of people to be amazed by things in the world and to want to own a part of it. For everything that people collect, there is, and always has been someone selling those things to make a living.

Fossils have interested humans since history began. Fossils have been found all over the world, from the British Isles to the deserts of Egypt, from the mountains of India to the Great Plains of North America and everywhere in between. Fossils have been collected, traded, sold, and even revered as magical, medicinal, and spiritual. In some places they have even been used in place of money. Fossils are regarded by some to hold the key to the future, and by others to be merely evidence of the past.

Fossils are abundant, common, and so extensive, they are found all over the earth. It has been said that fossils are nonrenewable, and this is true. However, dinosaurs have been eroding out of the Morrison Formation in North America for over 140 million years, and in another 140 million years they will still be eroding out. Also, the extant species of animals that are buried today will become the fossils of the future. So, in a sense, fossils are renewable.

History
One of the earliest, and best known fossil dealers was a lady from Lyme Regis named Mary Anning. Mary was daughter of Richard Anning a fossil dealer that sold fossils to visitors of the area. From the late 1700's through the early 1800's, she and her family made a living collecting and selling numerous marine fossil finds from the southern coast of England. Her clients were dukes and barons who thought it fashionable to collect fossils. She collected and sold the first identified skeleton of an Ichthyosaur to The British Museum of Natural History for £ 23. They not only purchased that specimen, but many other reptile and cephalopod fossils she later collected. Because of her discoveries, many new specimens were introduced to science, and as a result, many scientific papers were written regarding them. It is also said, that from her remarkable business came the well known tongue twister, "She sells sea shells by the sea shore". This shows that the practice of selling fossils was acceptable, and common knowledge two hundred years ago.

From the 1870's through the 1890's, two well known American paleontologists, Professor Edward Drinker Cope and Dr. Othniel Charles Marsh made fossil collecting in the American West a serious business. Both men paid collectors to find fossils for them, and each had large field crews out earnestly collecting, and actively competing against each other. Sometimes things got out of hand, and if they could not collect all of the fossils from a site, they would sometimes destroy what was left, so that the other would not be able to collect it. The bribery and stealing was so bad, that the collectors felt they had to carry guns to protect themselves from their competition. Apparently, paying fossil hunters to find and collect fossil specimens worked, the two men found and named more fossils than any other paleontologists before or since.

From 1867 until the 1960's, the Sternberg family collected and sold fossils to museums around the world for a price. The father, Charles H, Sternberg collected for Prof. Cope in the 1870's, and in the 1880's for Cope's adversary, Dr. O. C. Marsh. Charles also taught John Bell Hatcher, one of the the great American paleontologists how to collect fossils. Hatcher collected extensively and sold his finds to institutions such as Yale Museum, The Smithsonian Institute, and The Carnegie Museum. Charles passed his passion on to his sons, and they joined the family business collecting vertebrate fossils. The family's expeditions led them to Kansas,Wyoming, Montana, and Canada where they collected fish, reptiles, mammals, and dinosaurs for various museums throughout the world. The Edmontosaurus mummies at the American Museum of Natural History, New York, and at Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt, Germany are some of the more famous fossil specimens that were collected and sold by the Sternbergs.

In 1912, the family moved to Canada where they collected dinosaurs along the Red Deer River for the Canadian National Museum in Ottawa, Ontario. They worked for the Geological Survey of Canada, Univ. of Alberta, Univ. of Toronto, the Provincial Museum of Edmonton, and dozens of other institutions providing fossils and expertise in preparation. Parts of these collections also later became the nucleus for the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. By 1916, Charles and his son Levi worked primarily for the British Museum of Natural History, collecting fossils of dinosaurs from the badlands of Alberta. Son Charles M. decided to continue working for the Canadian institutions, and son George went out on his own collecting in the American West and in Patagonia, Argentina for the Field Museum. Later in life, George went back to Kansas, where the family had begun, and helped establish the Sternberg Museum in Fort Hayes, Kansas. This particular family of professional paleontologists was responsible for providing thousands of rare, previously unknown, and well prepared fossils to most of the museums throughout Europe and North America for more than 100 years. Without their drive to find new fossils, their knowledge as geologists, and their abilities as collectors and preparators, the paleontological and scientific world may not have advanced to the stage that it is today.

The Late Jurassic lithographic limestones in the Southern Germany, north of Munich, have been mined for centuries for use as building stone, slate, tiles, and lithographic plates. The miners noticed that there were fossils in the rock, and sold them separately as fossil specimens. These fossils soon became popular with some of the locals, and as early as 1781, it was noted that the prices of these fossils were subject to inflation. Pieces consistently brought ever higher prices as collectors kept adding to their collections. Many of these collections were sold or donated to form the nuclei for many museums throughout Europe. In 1861, the first link between birds and dinosaurs, Archaeopteryx, was found in the lithographic limestones at Solnhofen. This extremely important specimen was sold to the British Museum for an enormous sum of £ 700. Since that time, fossils have remained quite popular, and the public has been quite aware of them.

Fossils from the Posidon Shale of Holzmaden, Germany were sold as early as 1668. By the 1890's, Bernard Hauff, a miner and collector of these fossils, started marketing completely prepared slabs of these Early Jurassic marine vertebrate and invertebrate fossils to museums and collectors worldwide. His preparation laboratory and gallery was stocked with reptiles, pterosaurs, fishes, crinoids, and ammonites for sale to the public. Most of the more unique fossils from this site were purchased by museum and universities for display and research. The fossils that Mr. Hauff collected and prepared are still some of the most spectacular specimens from this locality that are exhibited in museums the world.

Businesses, families and individuals are not the only ones that have sold fossils. Between 1900 until 1906, Barnum Brown, a paid collector for The American Museum of Natural History collected three Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons for the museum. Two of the specimens, including the type of Tyrannosaurus rex, were sold by the museum. The type specimen of T-rex now resides at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, PA, and the other skeleton is at The British Museum of Natural History in London. The third and most complete skeleton of T-rex was retained, and is on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

At The South Dakota School of Mines Museum of Geology in Rapid City, SD, Dr. C. C. O'Harra and Dr. James D. Bump built one of the finest paleontological museums in the upper Midwest. They collected so much material that they needed a way to dispose of some of it. They opened a rock shop in Scenic and a gift shop at the Museum of Geology where they sold many of the abundant, common vertebrate and invertebrate fossils they collected. In this manner they were able to help finance their digs and expeditions so they could collect more specimens for research and display in the museum. This method enabled them to collect more material and find homes for it so it would not weather away or take up important museum storage space.

Ongoing
In a manner reminiscent of the early paleontologists, todays professional paleontologists, otherwise known as commercial or private collectors, are skilled in fossil collecting and preparation. They have created new methods to make fossil preparation faster, better and safer for the fossils. They have assisted manufacturers with the designing of new products for cleaning, gluing, and preserving of fossils. Although many of these professional paleontologists do not have degrees, their love and dedication for the discovery and preservation of fossils is real. Because of the time spent in the field and laboratory, the knowledge and skill of these collectors may be more advanced then their academic counterparts. They also seem to have the drive and the determination of the old time paleontologists, like the Sternbergs and the Hauffs. These private paleontologists work long and hard in the field and in the preparatory laboratory to provide magnificent prepared and unprepared fossil specimens to museums, universities, and private collectors the world over. And they do it at a fraction of the cost that a museum can do it for. They also make tens of thousands of specimens available for scientists to examine for research each year, that would otherwise not be seen. Most of these research specimens are donated by these "commercial" paleontologists to the scientific institutions.

Allen Graffham of Geological Research in Ardmore, OK has been providing fossil specimens for sale since 1956. His company has been one of the major suppliers of educational and museum specimens. He has donated thousands of specimens for scientific research, and been responsible for finding more than 100 new species of fossils. He also has a family and genus of crinoids, and more than 20 other species of fossils named for him. Allen Graffham helped pioneer the mechanized preparation of crinoids and trilobites, with some of the first commercial uses of the air brade (air abrasive) units and the use of an electric engraving tool.

Black Hills Institute of Geological Research has been providing quality prepared fossil specimens since 1974. We employ some of the finest preparators in the world. Preparators at the Institute have refined the art of fossil preparation through the use of pneumatic tools. We have also trained dozens of other fossil preparators who now work in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Our techniques were even adopted by the Field Museum for the preparation of Sue T-rex. Specimens prepared by our staff are on display and used in research in most major museums throughout the world. Black Hills Institute continues be innovative in the mounting, preparation, molding, casting, and collecting of fossils. Our staff is also responsible for the discovery of many new species, genera, and families of fossils, as well as the publication of scientific papers and books on Paleontology.

The sale of fossils to museums is common. Most major paleontological museums acquire many of their specimens from the professional commercial paleontologists. Some examples of sales to museums are as follows. The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Drumheller, Alberta contracted with Black Hills Institute and others to provide most of the rest of the specimens for exhibition. The new North American Museum of Ancient Life, Lehi, Utah obtained literally all of their exhibits from commercial entities like, Western Paleo Laboratories, Black Hills Institute, Triebold Paleontology, Chase Studios, and others. The Saurier Museum, Aathal, Switzerland was created entirely by Siber & Siber, a for profit mineral and fossil company. The North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina purchased their centerpiece, an Acrocanthosaurus atokensis skeleton, from Black Hills Institute and Geological Enterprises. The Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois acquired their star attraction, Sue the T-rex, from Sotheby's, an auction house in New York City. The National Science Museum in Tokyo, Japan built a major new fossil exhibition. All of their exhibition specimens were purchased from businesses like Canada Fossils, Black Hills Institute, Leonhart and Partner, and Triebold Paleontology; The Childrens Museum, Indianapolis, Indiana is contracting to acquire completely prepared dinosaur specimens from Cliff and Sandy Linster, Black Hills Institute, Canada Fossils, and others.

These museums, and many more, acquire fossils for display and research, from the many different professional paleontologists. Often the specimens become the focal point and the major attractions of those museums. A case in point, is the recent discoveries from Liaoning, China. These fossil finds include dinosaurs, birds, insects, and fish most with soft parts preserved. This site includes the finest preserved dinosaurs with "feathers" and internal organs. These discoveries were fueled by the capitalistic drive to make money. It was the farmers, trying to make a few extra dollars, who made these discoveries. As a result, the new finds have changed everyone's ideas about the origins of birds. And we have learned a tremendous amount about one particular part of the Cretaceous.

The business of selling fossils is not limited to dinosaurs. The state of Wyoming has sold fossil leases in the rich Green River Formation of Southwestern Wyoming for many years. From this site are the extremely abundant fossil fishes of the middle Eocene. The fauna not only has fossil fishes, but also abundant plants, mammals, reptiles, and birds. This site is one of the richest fossil lake deposits in the world. The state retains possession of the rare vertebrate fossils, but allows the lease holder to sell the common fish fossils. In this manner, thousands of rare fossils have been found and preserved for research and display.

Likewise, in Brazil, the discovery of pterosaurs and insects from the commercial fossil fish localities has given scientists a new look at these winged wonders. These specimens would probably have never been made, if not for the entrepreneur trying to make a better living for their families. A majority of these rare important paleontological finds are made by the farmers and villagers who are trying to find things to sell in the market place to tourists, geologists, and paleontologists.

In Madagascar, Indonesia, Russia, Kazakstan, Pakistan, and elsewhere, new fossil discoveries are being made not by the academics, but by people trying to make a living. As a result, thousands of new discoveries are being made and paleontologists are seeing more incredible fossils than ever before. Most of these fossils would probably lie undiscovered without the efforts of private enterprise. There are less than 1500 academic paleontologists employed in the entire world, and they cannot cover the millions of acres of land mass present on the earth.

Conclusion
The science of paleontology is a partnership of academic, amateur, and commercial paleontologists who need to rely on each other. Without scientists and amateurs, commercial collectors would have no one to sell their fossils to. And scientists rely on amateurs and professionals in the industry, to make new and exciting discoveries, assist with fieldwork, and lead the way for preparation in the laboratory. The professional commercial paleontologist is also able to provide museum exhibits more economically then can be done by any other group.

The benefits of acquiring material from the professionals are many. Businesses collect many more specimens then the scientific community could ever hope to find. Purchasing fossils is often more economical for the scientist, than for the scientist to collect the fossils. Often scientists are invited to help the commercial paleontologist by assisting on the excavation. They are often allowed to keep what they need for research. The commercial collecting of fossils means that more fossils will be found, collected, and saved from the ravages of weather. This also means that more fossils will become available for study and for display. Having fossils for sale makes sense to all involved.

We all know that fossils that are not collected are destroyed by the elements of nature. Working together we can save more fossils and improve the recovery of contextual information. Together we can preserve our ability to collect and save more fossils and to transfer them without fear across political boundaries. Fossils are the life blood of Paleontology. Without the amateurs and the commercial paleontologists, it would truly be a dead science.

Recommendations
Here are some recommendations for museums who wish to work with the paleontological professionals. Work with the people that love fossils and not with the people who only love money, your institution will usually spend less and the science will benefit from this relationship. Work with the professionals that provide site and specimen information, and who are interested in the science. Give credit where credit is due for the discovery of the specimen and the site. This will help create a close bond between the researcher and the discoverer. Cooperation with the professional paleontologists will open doors and make the museums designers, researchers, and preparators job much easier.

Acknowledgements
I thank Peter L. Larson for his extensive ideas, comments, and editing. I also thank Brenda Larson, Marion Zenker, and Robert A. Farrar for editing, and comments. I thank the GCG and the American Association of Paleontological Suppliers for funding my trip to Manchester to be part of this conference.

Bibliography
Barthel, K. W., Swinburne, N. H. M., Morris, S. C.,1990. Solnhofen, A Study in Mesozoic Palaeontology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 236pp.

Gayrard-Valy, Y., 1994. Fossils Evidence of Vanished Worlds. Henry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, NY, 192pp.

Hauff, B., Hauff, R. B., 1981. Das Holzmaden Buch. Repro-Druck GmbH, Pleidelsheim, Germany, 136pp.

Lanham, U., 1973. The Bone Hunters. Columbia Univ. Press, New York, NY, 285pp.

Psihoyos, L., with Knoebber, J.,1994. Hunting Dinosaurs. Random House, Inc., New York, NY, 267pp.

Rogers, K., 1991. The Sternberg Fossil Hunters - A Dinosaur Dynasty. Mountain Press Publishing Co., Missoula, MT, 288pp.