[Taxacom] Names for fossils

[Kenneth Kinman]

Hi George,

      Selling dinosaur specimens of already named dinosaurs has become increasingly common.  And selling of just the naming rights of a new species of dinosaur has also been used to raise money.  However, in this case, they seem to be selling an actual holotype of a new species (both the naming rights and the specimen as well).  I'm not sure if that has been done before.

      I am also not sure how these British paleontologists came to be the owners of this specimen from the United States.  Was it found on private land and bought from the owners of that land.  Or was it on public land?

            ----------------Ken


________________________________
From: Taxacom <taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu> on behalf of George Shepherd <gjshepherd02 at terra.com.br>
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2018 7:36 PM
To: taxacom
Subject: [Taxacom] Names for fossils

Do palaeontologists *really* name fossils this way ??

"Anyone with a spare million euros or two will have the opportunity to
not only own a unique species of dinosaur skeleton next month, but to
name it."

[Prof Eric Mickeler said].. “The rule for all scientific discoveries
that are confirmed to be new, the person who owns it can give it its
scientific name. It can be the name of a company or a person. Then they
just add an ‘-us’ on the end.”

 From a "Guardian" report on the sale of a nearly complete fossil
skeleton of a previously undescribed dinosaur species :
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/may/11/dinosaur-skeleton-therapod-auction-paris
Rare dinosaur skeleton for sale – along with the right to name species<https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/may/11/dinosaur-skeleton-therapod-auction-paris>
www.theguardian.com
Skeleton of unknown therapod is 70% complete and expected to fetch more than €1.2m in Paris sale





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