Can anyone own a dinosaur? Museums own them, but what about private individuals? As it turns out, the answer is yes – they can. You can own a dinosaur and many people do own fossils. Given enough money, wealthy individuals have been known to trade in some extremely rare specimens. Still, despite the fact that just about anyone can own a fossil, that doesn’t mean the issue isn’t a source of debate.

In the United States, fossil hunters operate under a “finders keepers” policy, but elsewhere around the globe the rules are different. Between the legal variables and the tense relationship between the science, museum, and collector communities, where fossils really “belong” is anything but settled.

Auctioning Off The Past
When we talk about where fossils belong or who should own them, no one is talking about a tooth or preserved footprints dug up in someone’s backyard. While these may be part of the fossil record, such specimens are hardly scarce or contested. Rather, the fossils that are a source of debate are of a much rarer sort. Back in 2012, for example, Heritage Auctions attempted to sell an 8-foot-tall Tyrannosaurus bataar, a rare Mongolian specimen related to the T. Rex. The auction house insisted it had been acquired legally, but the Mongolian government contested the sale – yet even if the skeleton didn’t belong to Mongolia, did it really belong in a private collection?

When it comes to such rare fossils, far fewer people feel comfortable with their sale than are okay with more common types of remains. The feeling is that fossils should be available for public study and appreciation. In reality, though, museum specimens represent a very small fragment of unearthed fossils. In addition to private collections, fossils end up in a strange array of places, including a large number that are owned by the United States Army, the result of excavation related to flood control projects.

Keeping Auctions Above Board
Whether or not you agree that fossils should be bought and sold by private individuals, it happens, and the best course of action is to ensure that those on the market are ethically sourced. There are limits to what buyers can know, but by acquiring fossils from a reputable dealer, you can feel confident that you’ve purchased an authentic specimen, that no one was harmed, and no laws were broken in the course of its acquisition. You might be surprised just how many unsavory things happen to supply our fossil market. Take amber as an example.

Amber seems like it would be easy to acquire and, compared to entire dinosaur skeletons, relatively harmless. However, in the Dominican Republic, amber played such an important role in indigenous culture and was so destructive to the environment that the country banned exports of raw amber in 1979 to protect local artisans. Since the country is the main source for a variety of rare amber types and consumers want pieces with complete, visible bugs, this has led to dealers to create fake amber samples from other resins. Meanwhile, other companies have started emptying out mines around the world, including in war torn Myanmar, where the trade can be likened to that producing blood diamonds in the Congo.

Compared to amber, the legal and political tensions surrounding larger dinosaur specimens are even more serious. Opal miners in Australia often unearth unique specimens, like rare opalized jawbones, snail shells, and other visually remarkable pieces that are in high demand by both museums and private collectors. In Australia, though, it’s illegal to export opalized fossils without a permit, a fact that does little more than fuel a fossil underground. Loosening laws around the fossil trade might mean more samples leave the country, but it would also help the country keep track of those fossils and even increase public availability.

Fossils aren’t such a scarce resource that they needed to be guarded with every legal tool available, but they may inspire slightly more oversight than they currently receive. As a special feature of our planet’s history, we’ll have to live with the consequences of whatever happens to our fossils.