Disputed Tyrannosaur skeleton will soon be returned to Mongolia from US

The 70-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton, discovered in Mongolia, will soon be returned by the US to its home country. 

|
U.S Attorney Office for the Southern District of New York/AP
An image from documents released from the U.S. Attorney's office Monday shows the fossil of a Tyrannosaurus bataar dinosaur at the center of a lawsuit demanding its return to Mongolia.

U.S. authorities said on Wednesday they expect this week to seize a 70-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton that was discovered in Mongolia more 65 years ago and now is stored in New York and at the center of an international legal dispute.

A federal judge in New York has signed a warrant that allows the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to seize the skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus bataar - an Asian cousin of the North American Tyrannosaurus rex - from Dallas-based Heritage Auctions.

"We should have it by the end of the week," said Luis Martinez, a spokesman for U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The seizure will be a "major step forward" for the government of Mongolia, which is claiming sovereign ownership and seeking the skeleton's return, said Robert Painter, a Houston attorney who represents Mongolian President Elbegdorj Tsakhia.

The skeleton - 8 feet (2.4m) tall and 24 feet (7.3m) long - has been stored in crates in New York City since Heritage sold it at auction to an unidentified buyer for more than $1 million on May 20.

At the request of the Mongolian government, a U.S. District judge in Dallas issued a restraining order preventing the skeleton from being moved or the ownership transferred while the dispute is pending.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara filed a lawsuit on Monday seeking the forfeiture of the nearly intact skeleton and its return to the Mongolian government.

In New York, U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel on Tuesday issued an order to seize the fossil, ruling there was probable cause it was subject to forfeiture under federal laws.

"From a legal standpoint, the U.S. government's lawsuit shifts the burden of proof from Mongolia to Heritage and others who might make a claim to its ownership," Painter said.

Heritage officials have said they will continue to cooperate with authorities. They say the skeleton was legally obtained and brought to auction by a reputable consignor.

"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 and bone fragments," Jim Halperin, co-chairman of Heritage Auctions, said in a statement. "We sincerely hope there is a just and fair outcome for all parties."

Federal officials said smugglers made false statements about the skeleton when it was imported into the United States from Britain in 2010. The skeleton did not originate in Britain nor was its value only $15,000 as claimed, they said.

The skeleton was discovered in 1946 during a joint Soviet-Mongolian expedition to the Gobi Desert inMongolia's Omnogovi Province, Bharara said. Mongolia has had laws in place since 1924 prohibiting the export of dinosaur fossils that are considered national treasures and government property.

Heritage Auctions and the Mongolian government agreed in May to jointly investigate the ownership of the skeleton. Several paleontologists examined the skeleton several weeks ago and determined it was removed from the western Gobi Desert in Mongolia between 1995 and 2005. (Editing by Daniel Trotta and Bill Trott)

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Disputed Tyrannosaur skeleton will soon be returned to Mongolia from US
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0622/Disputed-Tyrannosaur-skeleton-will-soon-be-returned-to-Mongolia-from-US
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe