RE: Minotaurasaurus controversy

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

Quoting Allan Edels <edels@msn.com>:

> I think that Dann was trying to say (and forgive me, Dann, if I get it
> wrong), is that museums have, in the past, accepted and used and published
> items that had lousy provenance, or were 'confiscated' [aka stolen] from the
> native populations. 

Exactly. Also, anything found in a museum collection and subsequently described 
(like 
Dyslocosaurus) may well have had a checkered past as far as anyone knows. Do we 
only publish 
something after an exhaustive inquiry that ensures that every aspect of the 
item's past is above-
board?

As far as unknown provenance goes; the Agrosaurus debarkle shows what's 
possible if you're 
determined enough to analyse the matrix around the fossil and match it with 
known fossil beds. 
Such a study has shown conclusively that Agrosaurus was not found in Australia, 
despite what it's 
museum label declared. In fact, the material has probably never even been 
outside of Britain. A 
similar study on the matrix surrounding the Minotaurasaurus material might also 
pinpoint the fossil 
beds it was possibly 'stolen' from.

Vickers-Rich, P., T.H.Rich, G.C.McNamara and A.Milner 1999 Agrosaurus: 
Australia's Oldest 
Dinosaur? Records of the Western Australian Museum Suppliment No.57: 191-200 

See also http://home.alphalink.com.au/~dannj/agrosaur.htm

-- 
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Dann Pigdon
GIS / Archaeologist              http://geo_cities.com/dannsdinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia             http://heretichides.soffiles.com
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