The Natural History Museum in Karlsruhe, Germany, will be obliged to return the dinosaur fossil to Brazil ubirajara jubatus, illegally removed from the country by foreign researchers.
The decision was made by the Council of Ministers of the Baden-Württemberg region, which accepted, on Tuesday morning (19), a request made by the Minister of Science, Theresia Bauer. According to an assessment by the ministry, there are serious doubts about the legality of the acquisition of the fossil and its importation by Germany.
There will also be an investigation into other Brazilian specimens in the museum’s possession. The expectation is that they can also be repatriated.
According to a report in the German newspaper Badische Neueste Nachrichten, the German science ministry was irritated by the “unacceptable scientific misconduct of the museum”, which caused serious reputational damage to the institution and the country.
In the last 18 months, since the species was first presented in a scientific article, the exotic image of the ubirajara jubatuswith abundant feathers and four stems “hanging” from the shoulders, became the symbol of the fight against the international trafficking of fossils.
The Brazilian scientific community mobilized in an unprecedented way through the virtual campaign #UbirajaraBelongstoBR (Ubirajara belongs to Brazil) to denounce the various irregularities involving the departure of the fossil from Brazilian territory.
One of the creators and main voices of the movement, Aline Ghilardi, a professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, considers that the announcement is a victory for science in developing countries.
“We send a very powerful message, which is echoing even in other regions of the world”, he says.
“We shouted to the world and said that it is possible to do a different science, decentralized, based on ethical principles. [com estrangeiros] are very welcome, but as long as the benefits are symmetrical, in which all parties receive the benefits”, he adds.
Signed by three foreign researchers, the scientific article that described the ubirajara jubatus disrespected several points of Brazilian legislation, which has established, since 1942, that fossils are national heritage. They are prohibited for sale and, for them to leave the country, a formal authorization is required.
Although they initially stated that the fossil left Brazil with proper authorization in 1995, the authors of the work were unable to present adequate documentation. Throughout the imbroglio, they presented other conflicting justifications that ended up not being supported.
Fueled by pressure on social media, the case generated great attention in the academic community and in the international press. Faced with the risk of reputational damage, universities, museums and scientific journals began to review some of their conduct, demanding greater rigor with the proof of origin of the materials.
The Karlsruhe Museum of Natural History was also forced to change its position, now stating that it takes the question of the origin of the pieces in its collection very seriously.
Initially, however, the institution refused to return the fossil to Brazil, saying the material was the property of the German state.
Museum director until January, when he retired, paleontologist Eberhard “Dino” Frey is one of the authors of the article in the ubirajara jubatus. His successor, who has already announced that he is leaving office, Norbert Lenz, also signed the work.
German authorities have not yet said when the material will be sent back to Brazil or under what circumstances this will happen. The fate of the dinosaur, within Brazilian territory, has also not been defined.
Although the negotiations were carried out with the participation of the Plácido Cidade Nuvens Museum of Paleontology, in Santana do Cariri (CE), a region where the dinosaur lived about 110 million years ago, reports in the German press state that the fossil can be sent to the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro.
The change sparked a new debate among paleontologists, who point out that institutions in the Southeast region end up concentrating many of the most valuable specimens, even though they come from the Brazilian Northeast.
Director of the Cariri museum, Allyson Pinheiro ruled out the existence of a dispute and highlighted the long history of collaboration between the two institutions. The paleontologist highlighted, however, the great transformative potential that science has for the Crato region.
“The holotypes [exemplares de referência] are the most important part of a museum. In addition to their scientific significance, they have an enormous potential to attract tourism, to turn the economy around. With such a special dinosaur, like this one, who represented an entire cause, this is even greater,” he says.
Despite the enthusiasm, Pinheiro is still cautious about the celebrations. “I am very happy, but the game is only over when it is over, when the fossil is in Brazil. Our experience with repatriations is that this is a slow and bureaucratic process, even when done in a consensual way.”
