Brief Summary:
Thinkgeek.com started selling fossils on their popular website about 2 weeks ago. I learned of this early last week and wrote Think Geek a detailed letter explaining why I felt, from the perspective of a mitigation paleontologist, that their actions are ultimately damaging to the protection of natural resources. Think Geek took the time and effort to send a very nice response. However, I felt that the message received from my initial email had been interpreted warning that Think Geek might be dealing with illegally-sourced fossils, when instead I intended communicate the ethical problems with the sale of fossils. This post shares my second letter to Think Geek.
Note: For respect of the customer service representative's privacy, personal information not affecting the message of this email has been removed. Information for the location of a poached site in the end of the email has also been removed for confidentiality purposes.
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Dear [redacted],
Thank you very much for your very thoughtful
letter. I realize that there is a lot to digest in the wall of text I sent to
Think Geek, but I know that they have an open ear regarding their customers’
concerns. You have certainly upheld that reputation, and thank you for your
understanding.
[Short paragraph sharing personal information redacted]
Concerning the rest of the email:
The selling of fossils is a complicated issue in the United
States, and what is ethical regarding the commercialization of paleontological
resources often sits in a gray area between black and white. For researchers
and professionals like myself, fossils are resources for knowledge. The
clarity with which we understand the past and the focus with which we may
analyze scientific questions about evolution is directly proportional to the
amount of data that are able to obtain, and fossils are that data. I know that
I touched on that in my first email, and I know that you understand this. I
want to be clear that the crux of my message to Think Geek was not to claim or
assert that I think you are dealing with illegally-sourced fossils, and that
you should be careful so as not to get swindled. Although the validity of the
source of fossils can be questionable when dealing with private collectors, I
do not mean to cause alarm in this regard, nor make wild accusations.
Ultimately, I’m not appealing to Think Geek on a legal issue.
Think Geek isn't doing anything illegal and I doubt that anyone will make that
assertion. What I am appealing is an ethical issue. The sale of paleontological
resources, even legally acquired fossils, increases demand for ownership and
opportunists move in to make money. I have no doubt that Think Geek has the
good intentions in their partnership with the commercial dealer supplying the
fossils. I am also not accusing the commercial dealer of illegal activity. What
I am saying is that from the perspective of a professional
scientist whose job is the protection of paleontological resources, seeing a
very prominent company like Think Geek offer fossils for sale sends a message
to every person who visits ThinkGeek.com looking for a unique gift. That
message says, “There it is. Take it.” As
I said previously, regardless of whether the bone fragments or ammonite shells
are considered "non-significant" for scientific purposes (and I must
wonder if it was a vertebrate paleontologist who made this decision), providing
them for sale reinforces the damaging ideology that paleontological resources
are an unlimited commodity appropriate for personal ownership and affixes to
their worth a dollar value. Yes, it is legal to sell
fossils sourced from private land. Yes, the fossils being sold in this case
most likely may be float and scientifically non-significant. But consider what
I have shared with Think Geek in this conversation. Is it ethical to
participate in the commercial fossil trade? Think Geek has a chance to promote
good stewardship of our natural resources in a time when those resources are
under tremendous stress. There are also much better alternatives to selling
paleontological resources, such as research casts. Selling of casts is
supported by scientists, it is sustainable, it does just as much to enthrall
and enchant imaginations, and it does not harm the very thing which people find
so fascinating.
There’s a phrase that has been used in this conversation that in
14 years I had never heard before Monday: Ethically Sourced.
Part of the reason I wrote to you is because the term “ethically
sourced” has raised concern among my colleagues. I have never heard the term
used in relation to fossils before seeing Think Geek’s product description, and
I would be very interested to know where the term came from. As a person who
studies and protects fossils for a living, the only time I have heard the word
“ethical” used in conjunction with the collection of fossils is in the Society
of Vertebrate Paleontology’s Ethics Bylaws:
These laws are the standards by which vertebrate paleontologists
must hold themselves accountable. They are publicly available and well-known.
Every vertebrate paleontologist who joins the SVP (the largest of the
professional vertebrate paleontology organizations) must read these bylaws.
Every day I must refer to and cite these bylaws when dealing with city, state,
and federal government offices and regulations. Ethics in this regard involve
professional conduct, care of specimens, and performance of your job. Ethical
collecting, for a paleontologist, is about following standardized professional
protocols for obtaining specimens: permit applications, repository agreements,
data collection, proper storage, and long-term care of specimens. This ensures
that all paleontological resources receive the same care and treatment
(ideally) so that future researchers may continue to practice scientific
investigations, and future fossil lovers of all kinds will be able to
appreciate what we have found.
Regardless of designated scientific significance, the simple selling
of fossils, any fossils, supports the desire for personal ownership and
reinforces a cultural ideology of appreciation through ownership. Regardless of
how many ammonites or beat up bone fragments may be littered on the surface of
the earth, the simple truth is so long as we practice behaviors that encourage
the ownership of fossils people will continue to see a limited natural resource
as a collectible commodity. That is my concern. That is why I have taken the
time to write to Think Geek.
In closing, I would like to share with you something that
happened to me today. This morning my office received a call about a tusk
freshly exposed in a project in [redacted]. We prepared to send one of our field
paleontologists to the site to investigate the new find. He had packed his bags
and we were in the process of securing his flight when the project called us back
and said that the tusk was gone. A project representative had returned to the spot
where the tusk had been found to take photos to send us and it was gone. Just
like that. We’ll never know what was at this location now, and that truly
sucks. In all likelihood, the fossil was either bulldozed to prevent work
delays or someone took it home this evening to put on their book case or eBay.
That's what we're up against every day. The knowledge and information from
fossils like that tusk are now lost forever- the animals seemingly extinct a
second time. This is why paleontologists are so concerned about seeing fossils
for sale anywhere, and this is why I have taken so much time to communicate my
thoughts to Think Geek. I hope you will consider them.
Thank you for your attention and your time.
Again, I urge Think Geek to reconsider the sale of fossils on
their website and instead provide sustainable research casts as an ethical and
fossil-friendly alternative.
My Best,
Lee
Disclaimer: The thoughts, statements and opinions in this
communication are strictly my own and do not represent those of my associates
or my employer.
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I sent them this email last Thursday evening, so I imagine it will be a couple of days before they respond. When they do, I will share it here. In the meantime, there has been a promising development. Blogger artiofab with io9 has shared news that ThinkGeek has temporarily suspended the sale of dinosaur bone fragments on their website. The disclaimer below is currently displayed in the item description section of the dinosaur bone page.
The meeting they are speaking of is the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology's annual member conference which is set to begin on November 5th in Berlin, Germany. It's a step in the right direction, and my hope is
that they will cede on the understanding that traces of ancient life
left on our planet are not simply "tchotchkes" (their item description) for bookshelves or desks.
-Lee
