Re: [dinosaur] Ubirajara, new compsognathid theropod with a filament "mane" from Lower Cretaceous of Brazil

Hi everyone!

With much enthusiasm we have seen discussions on this mail list about the ethical issues regarding the auction of Tyrannosaurus specimens and the problems around Myanmar amber. The time has come to address the issue of Brazilian fossils that were illegally expatriated.

Ubirajara is deposited in Germany (SMNK), along withÂdozens of other expatriated Brazilian fossils such as Irritator, Ludodactylus, SusisuchusÂand so onâ Smyth et al. (2020) declared the following, on their Material & Methods section:

âThe specimen described herein (SMNK PAL 29241) [â] was obtained from a stone quarry between Nova Olinda, and Santana do Cariri, Ceara, north-east Brazil and brought to Germany along with scientific samples in 1995 in accordance with the decree law No. 4146 from the 4th of March 1942. Authorisation for specimen export was granted on 1^st February 1995 by an agent of the Crato office of the DNPM (Departamento Nacional de ProduÃao Mineral).â

If the authors have some sort of DNPM authorization, where is the name of the said agent? Transparency is needed given the great problem that involves the illegal fossil trafficking here in Brazil.ÂPlus, if the researchers were already aware of the 1942 decree law since 1995, then what about the several species published since then (e.g. Irritator, Ludodactylus)? If they obtained a permit for Ubirajara, then did they also obtain permits for all of the other specimens as well?

Apparently not, according to some claims back in 2001: âNo Brazilian organisation has published an account of how a licence might be obtained to collect fossils in Brazil for scientific research, while letters of mine to the DNPM palaeontological office in Rio remain unanswered. It is thus unclear as to which authority should be approached to obtain a licence for the collection and removal of Brazilian fossils.â (Martill, 2001).

This claim is a mistake. In order to help everyone, ALL instructions and regulations are here: http://www.cnpq.br/documents/10157/780f0d53-e05e-4bec-8c15-7d13e59e6152.

Among the regulations:

-ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ A request for a collection permit (for any scientific material) must be submitted to the Science Ministry.

-ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ When it comes to fossils, the request must also be authorized by the DNPM (collection permit! Not exportâ)

-ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ A permit request cannot be submitted without the indication of cooperation with a Brazilian institution. This institution will supervise the international team.

-ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ After the collection, another permit is required for export, with authorization from the Science Ministry and the designated Brazilian cooperative institution (not just from some DNPM agent!)

-ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ Concerning fossils, all type specimens must remain in the country, as well as at least 30% of non-type specimens that were collected.

-ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ Reports must be given back to the Science Ministry after the scientific activities are developed.

The paper describing Ubirajara lacks Brazilian cooperation. The holotype is deposited abroad, and the authors claim that the export permit was granted by a DNPM agent (instead of the Science Ministry along with authorization from the designated Brazilian cooperative institution). Therefore, the collection and the export were both illegal.Â

Finally, âThe 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural PropertyÂurges States Parties to take measures to prohibit and prevent the illicit trafficking of cultural property. [â] The return and restitution of cultural property is central to the Convention and its duty is not only to remember but to fundamentally safeguard the identity of peoples and promote peaceful societies whereby the spirit of solidarity will be strengthened.â
https://en.unesco.org/fighttrafficking/1970

Both Brazil and Germany are signatories of the 1970 UNESCO Convention. And the 1942 decree law, as said above, defines fossils as cultural heritage in Brazil. Therefore, I hope the curators from SMNK (and elsewhere) would be willing to think about returning Brazilian specimens. We do hope that, by bringing this matter up, fruitful discussions can be raised.

Best wishes

Rodrigo PÃgas and Kamila Bandeira

P.S.: For those interested, we are working on a translated version of the regulations and instructions, to prevent further confusions.

Em dom., 13 de dez. de 2020 Ãs 19:44, Ben Creisler <bcreisler@gmail.com> escreveu:

So far only one news item I can find online, in Spanish (ignore "archaeology" term):

Mexican paleontologist HÃctor Rivera Sylva involved in study of Ubirajara (with reconstruction)

http://www.zocalo.com.mx/new_site/articulo/coahuilense-participa-de-descubrimiento-arqueologico-internacional

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On Sun, Dec 13, 2020 at 9:05 AM Ben Creisler <bcreisler@gmail.com> wrote:

Ben Creisler
bcreisler@gmail.com

A new paper:

Ubirajara jubatus gen. et sp. nov.

Robert S.H. Smyth, David M.Martill, Eberhard Frey, HÃctor E. Rivera-Sylva & Norbert Lenz (2020)
A maned theropod dinosaur from Gondwana with elaborate integumentary structures.
Cretaceous Research 104686 (advance online publication)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104686
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195667120303736

Discoveries of dinosaurs with integumentary structures over the last few decades have revolutionised our understanding of the phylogenetic relationships between birds and dinosaurs as well as the origin and evolution of feathers. A remarkable number of dinosaurs have been discovered with a diverse range of preserved integumentary structures. Several of these dinosaurs are adorned with elaborate integumentary structures that have been linked to behaviours including thermoregulation, egg incubation, and sexual display. Among Theropoda, such elaborate structures have only been previously recorded within Maniraptoriformes. However, elaborate monofilamentous structures are also present in some small ornithischians. The majority of theropods preserving integumental structures come from the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous of China or the Upper Jurassic of southern Germany, and all are of Laurasian origin. Herein, we describe a new genus and species of compsognathid theropod from the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) Crato Formation of Northeast Brazil, representing the first Gondwanan non-avian theropod with preserved filamentous integumentary structures. It is also the first non-maniraptoran possessing elaborate integumentary structures that were most likely used for display. These include slender monofilaments associated with the base of the neck, increasing in length along the dorsal thoracic region where they form an impressive mane, as well as a pair of elongate, ribbon-like structures likely emerging from the shoulder. Such elaborate integumentary structures are hitherto unknown in any other dinosaur, although superficially similar elongate display feathers emerge from the carpal region of the male standardwing bird-of-paradise (Semioptera wallacii).

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