Experts from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, including President Stuart Sumida, discuss the significance of paleontology, Earth history, and science in this informative opinion piece
Vertebrate palaeontology, the study of fossilized “backboned” animals, is arguably one of the most popular of sciences globally, one of the most popular and powerful of the “gateway” sciences to the public today.
What does palaeontology and the study of the past offer as humanity races toward its future? Palaeontologists are historians focused on the study of past life and the search for it. What we elucidate goes much deeper than the written word, archaeology, and anthropology, thus complementing them fundamentally. This brings a deep time perspective to critical present-day investigations such as evolution and climate change.
Ongoing support for research in vertebrate paleontology, or the lack thereof
Unfortunately, the multipronged attacks on science, evolution, climate change, human rights, and diversity – including biodiversity – in the United States (U.S.) by its executive branch have had a chilling impact on science, including palaeontology. The tacit agreement and cowardly silence of politicians who previously purported to support science have been shameful.
Many palaeontologists have received funding from governmental institutions such as the National Science Foundation’s Earth Science and Biological Sciences divisions – funding that has now been weaponized in the current administration’s campaign against research, science, and diversity.
Notably, an enormous number of professional palaeontologists teach basic science courses for biomedical and healthcare professions. So, the parallel attacks on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) also endanger the livelihood of many palaeontologists and the education of our future healthcare providers.
Many countries acknowledge the importance of their palaeontological heritage. However, laws protecting fossils are wildly variable worldwide, and even within individual countries. The U.S. is a case study in this regard. In what was a rare example of bipartisan cooperation, the Paleontological Resources Protection Act (PRPA) of 2009 was part of an Omnibus Public Land Management Act that protected palaeontological resources on U.S. federal lands whilst outlawing illegal collection of, and damage to, fossil sites. However, fossils on private land are the property of the landowners in the U.S. and this has set up a profiteering race to sell fossils that sequesters important specimens from scientific examination and the public eye.
Claims that high-profile sales of dinosaur fossils raise public awareness are misleading. These transactions often lack essential contextual data, limiting the scientific value of the specimens. When rare and significant fossils vanish into private collections, where they are inaccessible to both scientists and the public. Scientifi progress relies on building upon existing knowledge, using methods that are transparent and reproducible. This is only possible when fossils are housed in public institutions, where they remain permanently available for ongoing study. The growing trend of selling fossils to private buyers undermines this process and further disadvantages museums, universities, and the public, which cannot compete financially with wealthy private collectors.
These practices not only thwart palaeontological research, but the illusion that every chip of bone might lead to the next million-dollar sale only increases the chasm between science and the public that so loves it. The acceleration of the sales of rare and important fossils, particularly dinosaurs, then brings up the question: who owns history? Indeed, few would suggest that access to historical data of any kind should be under the limited stewardship of a few multimillionaires or billionaires. But this is precisely what is happening with the sales of rare vertebrate fossils.
The future of palaeontology: Why is the study of the past important now?
Education, science, and palaeontology face an existential threat from governmental overreach that seeks to silence any scientific discourse that runs contrary to ruling political agendas, despite long-term danger to scientific progress, and the destruction of the health and science that will serve future generations.
Meanwhile, there is no question that palaeontology is often the first science to which young people are first attracted. Groups such as the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology have the opportunity and the responsibility to help educate and inspire our future scientists, even if it is only a stepping stone to other scientific careers. What greater legacy could a stepping stone science have?
What can be done? Paleontologists are popular but few. Thus, it is imperative that the broader public demand environmental protections, and particularly those that include the protection of fossil specimens. Otherwise, palaeontology will slowly erode like the sediments that preserve the very fossils we study.
It is time for millionaires and billionaires to redirect their powerful funds toward scientific study and organizations that promote and facilitate palaeontology so that their legacy is progress as opposed to merely enlarging private cabinets of curiosity. This could be a powerful solution as we work for change in the political landscape and seek governmental leaders with the courage and political will to support science, instead of kowtowing to bombastic threats against their re-elections.
Artificial obstacles and racist marginalization at presentday borders now threaten to derail the free movement and discourse of researchers who study these charismatic creatures. Dinosaurs, as those that came before and after them, had neither cognizance nor care of present-day international borders. And international collaboration between palaeontologists is the norm. It is time to take the example of the animals we study and support those who study them.
The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) studies and advocates for the preservation and protection of these fossils. It has approximately 2,000 members who conduct research on every continent. SVP includes not only professional scientists, but also avocational palaeontologists, artists, and youth members.
