Indy is never wrong.

Same as the shoreline, same as our national forest, same as our American Indian sacred sites: preservation for all.

It's appalling! All dinosaur related history should be protected by law and preserved. It's mind bogglingly ancient and a piece of Earth's history which shouldn't have a price tag.

As long as they are properly identified, studied and logged then why should it matter who owns it afterwards? I'd rather it be in somebody's house where it might wow some kids and inspire them than be locked in a drawer somewhere under the museum of natural history.

Actually an ongoing discussion in Paleontology.

My opinion is that any public engagement or commercial enterprise increases academic appeal, and thus increases the probability for Paleontology research to be funded and pursued. Unless the fossil could change history as we know it, the discoverer should have rights to do as he/she wishes.

With an asterisk that the fossil is commonly known and not a new discovery.

Rather that than ivory or rhino horn. Dinosaurs are already extinct. I would prefer the others not to be. ?

The Dino in the picture belongs to a paleontologist I represent. Found in South Dakota. He will be selling it at an auction. He spent 2 years digging and preparing the specimen. It is beautiful and almost complete. As an anthropologist, I would like it preserved for the public to view and children to enjoy. But as an attorney I know my client has spent a lot of time and money making it look this beautiful, so he should be able to make a nice profit.

This is a difficult one. Seeing a report on tv of a couple of large fossil dinosaurs being sold recently made me think about this. I was uncomfortable about them being sold to private collectors for huge amounts of money. But they were not rare, and maybe it was a museum or similar institution that was selling them because they had duplicates and it meant they could use the money for important work. Lots of small fossils just spend all their time sitting in drawers in museum stores. There are places where you can find them yourself. If you find half a dozen very similar ones, can you sell them to fund your hobby? The big complete dinosaurs seem more important than little ammonites or similar, maybe because they are more rare.

After it has been checked over by an expert to make sure it is what the discoverer thinks it is (unless it is really really common)and that it isn't a new discovery important to science. After that I am good with the sale - as many already are.

Oil is a fossil of sorts, so I would have to say it's perfectly okay.

In the right area dinosaur fossils are available in abundance, I live in the UK on the eastern end of what is known as the Jurassic coast, and you can find them on the beach. On the south of the Isle of Wight when the tide goes out what your standing on is Jurassic and there's a fabulous iguanadon footprint fossil clearly visible (see pic of my daughter standing on this fossil) . But there needs to be a balance between stuff being available, being in museums for all to see and stuff being in private collections that you never see but that to is preserved. Generally speaking it's a healthy ongoing conversation

If an individual digs and prepares it, they should be able to sell it.... To a museum.

If it is on private land I have no problem with it. public land should be off limits for private enterprise

Ultimately they will be looked after and viewed whatever happens.

I am mostly concerned about a slippery slope here. If it is OK to dig up dinosaurs,then what about people? Is it OK to dig up people and sell human remains for profit?

I think fossils and antiquities should be let to qualified archeologists so that we learn the most from the past. Amateurs just ruin dig sites, damage fossils and remains.

The line has to be drawn somewhere, and I think I should be drawn to preserve as much knowledge as we can possibly gain form uncovering the past.

I think that depends on their relative scarcity.

What price science?

Their is plenty already......

A tongue twister from the jurassic coast.
she sells sea shells on the sea shore

This is all about attitude and perception and value. Either you're a consumer or a preservationist. I am squarely into preservation. Consumerism fails us. The argument that if a person pays money for excavation that entitles them to ownership is just bullshit. That person is going to excavate anyway...that's just probably in their dna. Why do they need reward for doing something they would do anyway? Let their reward be contribution to the greater good. In our consumer culture, we always justify ownership 'he worked for it, he's earned it'. It's such a narrow view. I'd be ashamed to cultivate that self-indulgence. In addition, the quantity of a found item is also insignificant/subjective and doesn't warrant personal ownership. Everything should go into a common bank and let the people decide what to do with 'profit'.
The human species gets a lot wrong. This is just one of the things we are on the wrong side of. How can anyone justify personal ownership on something that was produced by 'Mother Nature'?