Palaeontological site conservation and the professional collector
Name
976253564e62487e8fe626f58f974ea5.pdf
Description
visibility:open
Size
1.61 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (CRC64NVME)
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Resource type
Journal article
Creator (person)
Taylor, Michael A
Date published
1988
Abstract
Professional (i.e. commercial) fossil collectors can and do use sites responsibly. They benefit palaeontology by finding new fossils. Control of this collecting is counterproductive on eroding coasts and new exposures opened up by such collectors. Irresponsible professional collectors are not a major cause of damage compared to other collectors, quarry infilling, and coastal defences. The trade in fossils is not unethical and has many benefits, such as increasing public appreciation of fossils, and the readier availability of genuine specimens. This may help to overcome the financial devaluation of fossils and its unfortunate results for museums and geological sites. The work of professional collectors raises the broader questions of collecting, the sale of fossils, and the use of sites by the general public, in the context of palaeontological site management.
Journal title
Special Papers in Palaeontology
Issue
40
Publisher
The Palaeontological Association
Place of publication
Durham
ISSN
0038-6804
Rights statement
In Copyright
Additional information
The use and conservation of Palaeontological sites paper presented at meeting of Geological Society, the Palaeontological Association, and the Geological Curator's Group 1-2 October 1987 Related Event Date/s: 01/10/87 - 02/10/87