by Fake fossils are among us, passing almost unnoticed under the eyes of experts around the world. This is a serious problem – fake specimens can mislead paleontologists into studying ancient history that never existed.
In a new study, my colleagues and I reveal a surprising truth about a fossil that has been celebrated for many years as one of the best preserved fossils from the Alps.
The IS Tridentinosaurus antiquus a small lizard-like reptile that lived during the Permian period (299-252 million years ago), where the Alps are today. Discovered in 1931, the specimen was highly prized because of the carbonized traces of the skin that could be seen on the surface of the rock, according to the scientists. Generations of palaeontologists thought the fossil was real, possibly the oldest animal mummy ever found. This is partly because this type of conservation was rare.
The fossil has been reported in books and articles but has not been studied in detail with modern techniques. Experts were not sure which group of reptiles the fossil belonged to. Our study anticipated this solution and other long-standing debates among scientists.
But our team discovered that the skin is actually fake. What was thought to be a well-preserved carbonized skin was actually just a bunch of carved lizard-shaped body covered in black paint.
However, the fossil is not a complete fake. The bones of the hind limbs, especially the femurs, appear to be real. We also found some tiny bony scales (called osteoderms, similar to crocodile scales) possibly preserved on the back of the animal.
It was through our preliminary investigation using ultraviolet photography that we revealed that the outline of the body was darkly colored and all these bones and scales were treated with some kind of coating material. Covering fossils with varnishes or lacquers has been common practice for the last few centuries – and is sometimes still necessary to preserve fossil specimens in museum cabinets and exhibits.
We expected that under the coating layer, the original soft tissues would still be in good condition. But chemical techniques found that the material matched a type of black paint made from animal bones, meaning the skin was completely forged.
Sadly, this means we will never know what the original fossil looked like.
The circumstances behind this forgery are unknown, but we do know that it happened before 1959 – the date of the official scientific report on the fossil. However, this discovery is a reminder of how important it is to report such specimens and combat fossil forgery.
The history of fossil forgery
The history of fossil forgery goes back as far as the beginnings of paleontology itself, with early reports dating back to the late 18th and 19th centuries.
This was mainly due to the lucrative market in selling fossil specimens to private collectors and museums. For example, an original specimen of _Archeopteryx_ (an avian dinosaur) was sold for the current equivalent of £85,000 back in the early 1860s. Some people also created fossils for scientific and social recognition.
Famous examples include a range of fossil types, from the Piltdown man (1912), an elaborate hominid construction hominid from the amalgamation of human and bird bones, to Archaeologist (1990), a chimaera (a fossil reconstructed with elements from more than one species or genus of animal) formed with different parts of the dinosaur skeleton to create a new specimen first reported in National Geographic magazine as a figure in 1999.
Other examples include cases of partial skulls of extinct mammals completed with bones made of plastic. Sometimes a mixture of cement, resins, rock fragments and dust is used for this type of forging. Forgers can also use brown or dark black paint to alter the appearance of poorly preserved specimens that would otherwise not be of interest to researchers or collectors.
This happened in case Chaoyangensis Mongolarachne, a giant spider found in China. It turned out to be a poorly preserved lobster after paleontologists took a closer look the same year the first paper was published in 2019.
Scientists have discovered that natural history museums around the world have fake specimens in their collections. Although new technology is helping to study fossils trilobitestype of ancient marine invertebrates more detailed, it is also showing that many specimens are fake.
The same thing is happening with animal and plant remains fossilized in amber (fossilized tree resin), found in historical times and only recently analyzed in detail with modern techniques.
The market for fake fossils is a huge problem today. This is especially true in countries with less regulation. The fossil trade in Morocco alone is worth US$40 million (£32 million) a year and provides fossil exhibits around the world.
Meanwhile, colonialism stifled local expertise in South America – resulting in a high number of studies of fossils from the region based on specimens illegally transferred to collections in other countries, particularly Germany and Japan.
We need governments around the world to introduce strict laws to protect our paleontological and geological heritage of the world.
The case of Tridentinosaurus antiquus it’s a cautionary tale. We believe our research can inform fossil conservation practices that are no longer appropriate, such as painting over fossils, and subsequently outline more ethical actions to take when a fossil is found.
For example, the condition of a fossil at the time of discovery should be recorded in detail – together with information about when and where it was found and how it was prepared and preserved. Decorations should be avoided.
We may not be able to stop making fake fossils, but we are here and ready to unmark them and protect our amazing fossil heritage.
This article from The Conversation is republished under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Valentina Rossi is currently affiliated with University College Cork. She receives funding from the Department for the Promotion of Education, University and Research Policies in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol within the research project ‘Living with the Supervolcano – How the eruptions of Athens destroyed and preserved 15 million years of Permian life’ ( no. 11). /34; CUP H32F20000010003) awarded to Professor Evelyn Kustatscher (South Tyrol Museum of Nature, Bolzano, Italy).
