The precious dinosaur fossils will eventually be returned to Brazil
A precious dinosaur fossil is on its way back to Brazil after nearly 30 years of shipping to Germany. In 2020, the specimen caused a stir in the paleontological community after German researchers published a paper describing Ubirajara jubatus, the first non-avian dinosaur with a feathery structure discovered in South America. Miniature dinosaurs are full-type specimens, specimens that scientists use to describe new species. Brazil banned hologram exports, and the license obtained by the German team may not have followed legal procedures. Paleontologist Aline Ghilardi said it was "an important message against scientific colonialism in the twenty-first century and a strong precedent for more fossils to be returned to their countries of origin."
The Ubirajara jubatus fossil is a holotype – a model specimen that defines a species. Photo by Felipe L. Pinheiro
After more than two years of negotiations, a controversial fossil is on its way home. The specimen represents the first non-avian dinosaur with a feathery structure found in South America and will return to Brazil in June, according to the Guimarães Rosa Institute in Brasilia, an institution affiliated with the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that focuses on cultural studies and educational diplomacy.
The 110-million-year-old fossil, currently preserved at the Karlsruhe State Museum of Natural History in Germany, has been a bone of contention between Brazilian and German officials since December 2020. At that time, a group of paleontologists in Germany, Mexico and the United Kingdom published a research paper describing the specimen and its dinosaur Ubirajara jubatus in the journal Cretaceous Research1. Researchers obtained the fossil from Brazil's Araripe Basin in the 1990s and deposited it in a German museum.
However, Brazil has a law enacted in 1942 that states that fossils are federal property and cannot be removed from its borders without permission. The paper's authors said they had permission from Brazilian mining officials to export Ubirajara specimens. Rafael Rayol, a prosecutor in Azelu Norte de Brazil, who is working on the Ubirajara case, told Nature that when the fossils were removed from Brazil, there was no explicit indication of donation. "Someone donated boxes containing some unknown fossil material," he said. "Theoretically, Ubirajara is possible right in those boxes - in any case, the authorization issued by Brazil's former Ministry of Mineral Production in the 1990s did not follow legal procedures."
Back and forth
The road to the return of Ubirajara fossils to Brazil was long and winding.
After the paper was published in Cretaceous Studies, an online campaign with the hashtag #UbirajaraBelongsToBrazil called for the specimen to be returned, citing paleontological colonialism, in which scientists from rich countries obtain fossils from low- and middle-income countries. Because it is the only known specimen of its kind and is well preserved, the researchers believe that the Ubirajara fossil is a holotype — a gold-standard specimen used to describe new species.
The artist's renderings show Ubirajara jubatus with a feathered spear sticking out of her shoulder. Image credit: Pavel Galvan
Holograms are further protected by Brazilian law of 1990, which prohibits export from Brazil. Given the legal issues surrounding the case, Cretaceous Research eventually retracted the paper.
In September 2021, the Karlsruhe Museum said it would not return the specimens. The Brazilian prosecutor's office then filed a formal request with the German government for the return of the fossils. But Germany's Federal Foreign Office issued a note in April last year saying the country would not publish it.
However, in July 2022, the German state of Baden-Württemberg, where the Karlsruhe Museum is located, ruled in favor of repatriation in response to a proposal by then-Science Minister Theresia Bauer.
According to Gustavo Bezerra, director of the Guimarães Rosa Institute, the Ubirajara specimen will be handed over to the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro in June during a visit by a German official. The museum burned down in 2018 due to an electrical failure in the air conditioning system and is currently being rebuilt.
"The museum hopes that this piece will contribute to the reconstruction," said director Alexander Kellner. But there are still some uncertainties. So far, Kellner said, the museum has not been in touch with the German government about the deal.
Brazil's Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation told Nature that it has designated the National Museum to receive the fossils. The German embassy in Brasilia told Nature that at present, partners in Brazil and Germany are engaged in a "multi-level dialogue" about how and under what circumstances deliveries will be made.
A new era?
The Brazilian scientific community hopes that the return of Ubirajara fossils will open a new chapter in global paleontology.
"The return of this material is significant," says Aline Ghili, a paleontologist at the Federal University of Rio Grande Norte in Natal, Brazil, and one of the lead researchers in the #UbirajaraBelongsToBrazil campaign.
It was "an important message against twenty-first-century scientific colonialism and setting a strong precedent for more fossils to return to their countries of origin," she said. But she worries that the struggle around "internal colonialism" persists – in this case, where institutions in wealthier areas of a country exploit poorer areas. In particular, she fears that the Ubirajara fossils will go to the National Museum instead of the Plácido Cidade Nuvens Paleontological Museum in Santana do Cariri, which is close to the Araripe basin, where specimens are collected.
For Hermínio Araújo, a paleontologist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and president of the Brazilian Paleontological Society, the return of fossils sends another important message: efforts such as the return of Ubirajara are important and demonstrates the power of fossils that can be possessed when communities "speak out and denounce the situation."
reference
- Smyth, R. S. H., Martill, D. M., Frey, E., Rivera-Sylva, H. E. & Lenz, N. Cretac. Res. (2020).