40 years as a fossil prospector, collector and exhibition maker

Abstract

Even 200 years of fossil collecting for the benefit of public and private collections has not exhausted the supply of fossils by any means. One can even argue that we have barely scratched the surface, and that the best and most important finds are still out there. The primary reason for this is that the technical means for excavating, collecting and preparing fossils have considerably advanced during the last three decades, up to the level that the present act of collecting is - under ideal circumstances - far superior to past collecting efforts. Who has the ambition, the skills, the financial resources and the legal rights to collect fossils properly? Traditionally, three groups engage themselves in the art and technique of fossil collecting: professional palaeontologists, advanced amateurs, and commercial palaeontologists. All of these groups have made significant contributions to classical and modern palaeontology and to museum collections worldwide. Recent developments regarding restrictions to collect fossils primarily target amateurs and so called 'commercials' or independent palaeontologists, and have greatly diminished the opportunities for legal fossil collecting. However, these three groups work best together if they pool their resources. Many models of cooperation exist and have proved beneficial for all parties involved. In addition, the restrictions on fossil collecting in more fossiliferous areas and countries is well meant, but essentially counterproductive. Palaeontology requires the effort and input of all three groups. Their cooperation is essential and eventually determines the amount and quality of important fossils found and saved for future generations. It is not necessary that scientifically important fossils are exclusively housed in "public repositories". The criterion should be accessibility for continued scientific research and not ownership.