Theft of the dinosaur

2001/09/12 Agirre Ruiz de Arkaute, Aitziber - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Paleontologia
• Arkeologia

The dinosaur skeleton discovered in Utah in 1992 has generated controversy in the past month, and a marriage that can be responsible for buying and selling it has been called to stand before local courts.

This predatory dinosaur that lived in the upper Jurassic, 10-14 meters long and 3 tons of weight, is known only a dozen skeletons constituted. The skeleton of an Allosaurus was first found in 1883, and so far only in the US and Tanzania have found it. This genus lived about 145-150 million years ago, and although it did not have the capacity to reach excessive speeds, experts believe that in its day it was a terrible predator. The individual who has found still has 85% of his bones, according to the paleontologist Laurie Briant, from the Salt Lake City Territory Management Office.

The duo denounced James and Rhodes-James, responsible for the Prehistic Journeys, has rebuilt more than 100 skeletons of destroyed species. Some of them have been implemented in the most important museums.

According to the complaint, James, on his trip to the state of Utah, met with three men who found an Allosaurus in federal lands and explained their intention to buy the dinosaur. By unearthing the fossil he offered $90,500 and then sold it to a Japanese buyer for $400,000.

Despite this, James has denied the purchase of the dinosaur, since, according to him, he only managed to fix the skeleton and find a buyer. According to him, the skeleton is formed by the collection of bones of several individuals. For the moment they have been accused of having violated the Cultural Heritage Law, so they have requested a 15 year prison sentence.