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U.S. Attorney's Office
This photo, attached as an exhibit to the complaint filed by federal attorneys, shows the tyrannosaur skeleton that has stirred up an international legal dispute.
Federal attorneys today filed a civil lawsuit that seeks to wrest a tyrannosaur skeleton valued at more than $1 million away from its sellers and return it to the Mongolian government.
The skeleton was sold at a New York auction last month for $1.05 million to an unidentified buyer, even though a federal district judge in Texas issued a restraining order to hold up the sale. The auction house behind the offering, Texas-based Heritage Auctions, made the sale contingent on the outcome of Mongolia's court challenge — and since then, the skeleton has been held in legal limbo.
Earlier this month, a panel of paleontologists declared that the skeleton represented a Tyrannosaurus bataar, also known as a Tarbosaurus bataar, which was probably smuggled out of Mongolia sometime in the past 15 years or so. Today's complaint, filed by the U.S. attorney for Manhattan in New York federal district court, follows up on that determination and lays out the authorities' version of a tangled tyrannosaur tale.
"The skeletal remains of this dinosaur are of tremendous cultural and historical significance to the people of Mongolia, and provide a connection to the country's prehistoric past," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. "When the skeleton was allegedly looted, a piece of the country's natural history was stolen with it, and we look forward to returning it to its rightful place."
Mongolia has had laws on the books forbidding the export of dinosaur fossils since 1924. The complaint says the nearly complete skeleton was brought into the United States illegally, and thus should be forfeited by the sellers and returned to Mongolia.
James Hayes, a special agent-in-charge for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, said the complaint alleges that "criminal smugglers misrepresented this fossil to customs officials."
When the skeleton was imported into the United States from Britain in 2010, the country of origin was listed as Britain — even though, according to the paleontologists, nearly complete tyrannosaur skeletons of this type have been found only in Mongolia. The experts cited a dozen features of the bones, as well as their light color and even the dirt stuck in the cracks in the fossils, as characteristic of Tyrannosaurus bataar rather than the larger T. rex or other members of the tyrannosaur tribe.
Federal attorneys said that the importers set the skeleton's value at $15,000, but that a value of $950,000 to $1.5 million was listed in this year's auction catalog. They also said the 8-foot-tall (2.4-meter-tall), 24-foot-long (7.3-meter-long) skeleton was incorrectly listed on customs forms as consisting of assorted fossilized reptiles and skulls.
The complaint names Florida Fossils as the ultimate consignee for the imported goods, and notes that the company was owned at the time of importation by Eric Prokopi. The skeleton was shipped from Florida to Texas, and then on to New York in preparation for the May 20 sale. Soon after word spread that a million-dollar tyrannosaur was coming up for auction, representatives of the Mongolian government became interested and sought unsuccessfully to stop the sale.
The dinosaur skeleton is currently in the custody of Cadogan Tate Fine Art in Sunnyside, N.Y. In the weeks since the controversial sale took place, the auction house has let paleontologists and representatives of the Mongolian government examine the fossil.
"I thank and applaud the United States Attorney's office in this action to recover the Tyrannosaurus bataar, an important piece of the cultural heritage of the Mongolian people," Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj was quoted as saying in the U.S. government's news release about the case. "Cultural looting and profiteering cannot be tolerated anywhere, and this cooperation between our governments is a large step forward to stopping it."
My efforts to contact Prokopi today were unsuccessful, but representatives of Heritage Auctions issued this statement from the company's co-chairman, Jim Halperin:
"We auctioned the Tyrannosaurus bataar conditionally, subject to future court rulings, so this matter is now in the hands of lawyers and politicians. We believe our consignor purchased fossils in good faith, then spent a year of his life and considerable expense identifying, restoring, mounting and preparing what had previously been a much less valuable matrix of unassembled, underlying bones. We sincerely hope there will be a just and fair outcome for all parties."
More about the tyrannosaur:
- May 18: Auction stirs up a tussle over tyrannosaur
- May 21: Despite challenge, fossil sells for $1 million
- May 24: Auctioned dino skeleton believed to be smuggled
- June 8: Experts say tyrannosaur is definitely from Mongolia
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Leave a Comment:
oh and people live in fish and some 600 year old sailor took all the bugs and animals on the planet on a honey moon cruise for 40 days in his yacht
Always amazed at how somebody can turn any subject into an "I hate religion" tirade. Bash all you want. It won't change God one itty bitty bit. You are simply wasting what life God has given you and that life is just a vapour.
Oh, come on. It's fun to bash people that believe silly things.
If you had a friend that believed in Santa, you'd think they were silly wouldn't you?
Any rational mind knows the bible is 90% fiction. Magic isn't real. Take the lessons of the bible that tell you to be a better person to heart. But leave all the other parts that the logical side of your brain knows is nonsense.
deb I wonder if they feed the dino mongolian beef and you know maybe thats why the chinese built the great wall too... to keep the dinos from invading. Hmmmm
It's not in the hands of politicians...it's bureaucrats who are at the controls now.
Now all we need is for the Feds to try this hard to deport all the other aliens illegally in this country.
I hope this works out better than the last two law suits the Feds did, ie: John Edwards and Roger Clemons. How many more lawsuits can our esteemed government get involved in? This just keeps costing the taxpayers money that we do not have all because the Obama and Congress think they know best. Oh well, and the beat goes on.
I agree. The auction house should be held responsible and taken to court.
There is no such thing as Client privilege. The people who had it in their possession, whether they were the original owners or not should also be fined big time.
They should not be able to claim innocent in these matters anymore than the auction house that sold it.
It's time to change the law so that these people can not hide behind some client, buyer, seller bullsh*t. All the law does now is make the courts jump through hoops until it's so messed up nobody wins.
It should go back to where it came from. There should be no question of that.
Where is my relative "Genghis" when we need him. He could come and get this back and also take care of Persia(Iran)as he had done in the past.
And this is the business that the Obama Administration is spending its time and our money on? Time to clean [White] house again.
Question to anyone willing to answer(& actually know). How much of this T-Rex is original & how much is fabricated? Some kind of %.
Since when did the fed gov get into the business of doing whats right? If the crooked bastards were as concerned about doing whats right for our country that WE put them in office to oversee instead of pilfering it for every penny they can steal from it, maybe the United States of America might just still be the great nation it once was again instead of vying for first place in third world status. Phuck the fed gov., AND the one hundred billion dollar mule it rode in on!
WTF. give them back they bones. all evidence points to it belonging to Mongolia so give it back. there is no legal issue here. why cant you court people just do the right thing. its always law this an law that. that's why so many Innocent people are in our prison systems. just give them back the bones and be done with it. its not like the collector or the auction place is gonna die. so what if they out a little money. 15k the price the auction paid is pocket change for them. as for the collector the sale isn't final so your not gonna loose anything but some bones. why cant you people just do the right thing. you say its not that simple. wrong it is that simple.
What evidence? To return the remains they (Mongolia) need to provide proof that it was taken out of Mongolia after 1924.
This dinosaur is in the country illegally, therefore has all the minority rights given to all other illegals!
Now that is funny! Call up BO and get him on the case!
I heard it's registered to vote in Florida.
good luck
How do you smuggle a TRex ?
the feds have to much time on their hands. Marines and soldiers are being slaughtered for a bunch of useless towelheads and this is news , our kids being murdered is not . fu*k obama and his politicans
Remeber it started with Bush and Cheney that they wanted this so they can steal and rob u of your money and your kids' future money. Don't forget to mention those 2 who you probably jump for joy when you see them.
Seems the brighter segment of the population is all over this one. The Department of Just-Us ought to limit its activities to issues relating to their Constitutional mission. But---hope springs eternal---.
Probably? Sorry Charlie. If you can't point it out as a specific fossil that was stolen from a specific entity, this is just a bunch of bones, and the fact that it "probably" came from your country doesn't mean anything.
Huh, about the only thing Mongolia might do with it is boil it and make soup out of it. I know they didnt have anything to do with or spend any recouces digging it up. G S , most dino skeletons arent owned by the rich, but by museums for eveybody to see. Its only worth 1 mil because its not a t-rex. but smaller version of it.
I'm surprised it's only worth a million. I'm also wondering how they know it was smuggled out of Mongolia "in the past 15yrs or so".
Poor bataar. I'm sure the feds would let him stay if his name was Juan. Oops, wait...he's a little too old.
It is a beautiful dinosaur. I have to tell all those people who made the claims, "it is a million or billion years old," that God only formed the earth, from what has been proved, around 6 to 7 thousand years ago.
They don't give PhD's in biology for watching "The Flintstone", Becky... You really should consider actually reading the science you claim to reject.
I understand this is an over simplification....however.....is anyone else struck by the fact that you can dig up a bunch of bones and find someone to by them, and thereby be breaking laws. My dog better watch his p's and q's. lol
Fight fire with fire. Protect yourself from the world. Read the Bible especially the Old Testament because it can help you to make better decisions in life. If someone is in your way of a peaceful life eliminate them. Kill them all if they do not follow your God for it is written that groups of people killed others for religion and better morals.
Kill all these thieving people that are stealing from Mongolia starting with whoever it dates back to find who handled these bones. Kill them all in the name of the (a God) Lord and it will be fine.
I am far from an expert, but the statement that such complete skeletons are not found outside of Mongolia seems, in my limited knowledge, incorrect. Weren't Stan and Sue, which are over 90% complete, found here in the good old US? According to the articles that came out at the time they were found, the most complete skeletons up to that point were only about 45% complete, as I recall.
When Jurassic Park came out, my son wanted a T. Rex for a pet. He wanted to keep it in the back yard. I had to explain to him that one of those was as big as the house, and people would probably notice when, after it ate all the cows in the pasture back of our house, it started eating the neighbors. People might even send in suggestions as to who it could eat next. He was mollified, although I am not sure he believed me.
I should emphasize that they're talking about nearly complete skeletons *of this type* ... Tarbosaurus bataar. In his letter, which is an exhibit in the civil complaint, Dr. Minjin notes that fragmentary fossils of large tyrannosaurids have been found in China and Kazakhstan, but nearly complete skeletons of the type held by Heritage Auctions have been found only in Mongolia.
What a pile of crap this is. Some dinosaur bones are important to the Mongolian people? What will happen if they're not returned to Mongolia? The Mongolians will suffer nervous breakdowns?