Questão 1914506

TEXT 15

‘Paleopiracy’ makes foreigners dominate works on Brazilian fossils, says article

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An international team of researchers has just quantifi ed part of the impact of smuggling Brazilian fossils abroad. Almost 60% of scientific publications on material from the Araripe basin – between Ceará, Pernambuco and Piauí – are led by foreign authors not linked to Brazilian institutions.

Despite Brazilian legislation specifi cally prohibiting the departure of fossils used as a reference for the description of new species (the so-called holotypes) from the national territory, 88% of the specimens described by foreigners are outside Brazil. In the article, the scientists indicate the recurring presence of colonialist practices in paleontological research, with rich countries appropriating material and species collected in poorer nations, ignoring national legislation to protect heritage, and harming the development of science in these places.

In addition to presenting quantitative data on paleopiracy, the new work details that international institutions turn a blind eye to fossil smuggling and that major scientific journals do not require documents proving the licit origin of the material studied. The assertive stance now chosen by the researchers marks the deepening of the strategy of publicly exposing ethical and legal conflicts related to the irregular exploitation of fossiliferous heritage.

“These things are not new, they have been going on for decades. We are saturated with it all, but we cannot be heard by the international scientific community”, says paleontologist Juan Cisneros, a professor at the Federal University of Piauí and one of the authors of the article.

Co-author of the work, UFRN (Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte) professor Aline Ghilardi points out that foreign universities and museums have few incentives to inspect ethical and legal issues of fossils. “Institutions turn a blind eye to the fossil situation because they are benefiting. They get more scientific articles in highimpact journals and they have beautiful fossils that attract more visitors to museums. Nobody wants to lose the benefit, nothing will change”, says the paleontologist.

One of the most active voices in Brazilian science against the international traffi cking of fossils, Ghilardi was one of the organizers of repatriation campaign of the dinosaur Ubirajara jubatus, which Germany refuses to return. The mobilization, which went beyond Brazilian social networks and reached the international press and scientific conferences abroad, is considered a watershed for the positioning of scientists.

The fossil of the exotic animal, which lived about 110 million years ago in the Araripe region, was illegally taken to Europe, where the species was described in a work without the participation of any Brazilian scientist. The controversy spread through the international community and ended up leading the journal Cretaceous Research to cancel the publication of the work. The journal also announced a revision to its guidelines, stating that it would no longer accept fossils suspected of having been illegally collected and exported from their countries of origin.

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Adapted from: https://newsbulletin247.com/technology/55968.html

Read the sentences below and judge them true (T) or false (F), then choose the alternative that shows the correct sequence from above to below:

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( ) The Cretaceous Research journal withdrew the paper about Ubirajara after it was revealed that it was taken illegally from Brazil

( ) After the international outcry generated by the campaign, Ubirajara was repatriated

( ) The smuggling of fossils from poor countries is a relatively new phenomenon

( ) More than half of scientific publications on fossils collected from the Araripe Basin do not have any participation by researchers linked to Brazilian institutions

( ) Brazilian legislation in general forbids fossil exports, but it can open a few exceptions for holotypes