Illegally Imported Tyrannosaurus Skeleton Seized, to be Repatriated to Mongolia
The nearly complete skeleton of a dinosaur was forfeited to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE said. The skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Bataar was looted from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, ICE said, and this forfeiture is the first step to the hopeful repatriation of the fossil to Mongolia. According to ICE, the skeleton was imported into the U.S. from the United Kingdom, and the customs importation documents contained several misstatements.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
(According to court documents, the Tyrannosaurus Bataar, a native of what is now Mongolia, was a dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period, approximately 70 million years ago. It was first discovered in 1946 during a joint Soviet-Mongolian expedition to the Gobi Desert in the Mongolian Ömnögovi Province, ICE said. Since 1924, Mongolia has enacted laws declaring dinosaur fossils to be the property of the Government of Mongolia and criminalizing their export from the country.)
Skeleton Imported from UK, but Documentation Contained Misstatements
On March 27, 2010, the Tyrannosaurus Bataar skeleton was imported into the U.S. from the UK, said ICE. According to ICE, the customs importation documents contained several misstatements. First, the country of origin of the Tyrannosaurus Bataar skeleton was erroneously listed as the UK. However, according to several paleontologists, Tyrannosaurus Bataars have only been recovered in Mongolia. In addition, the Tyrannosaurus Bataar skeleton was substantially undervalued on the importation documents. Customs importation forms listed its value as $15,000, in contrast to the $950,000 to $1.5 million price listed in a 2012 auction catalog. Finally, the Tyrannosaurus Bataar skeleton was incorrectly described on the customs importation documents as two, large, rough fossil reptile heads; six boxes of broken fossil bones; three rough fossil reptiles; one fossil lizard; three rough fossil reptiles and one fossil reptile skull.
Sold for $1.052 Million Despite Mongolia’s Temporary Restraining Order
Texas-based Heritage Auctions Inc., offered the Tyrannosaurus Bataar skeleton for sale at an auction conducted in New York, ICE said. Prior to the sale, the Government of Mongolia sought — and was granted by a Texas Civil District Judge — a temporary restraining order prohibiting the auctioning, sale, release or transfer of the Tyrannosaurus Bataar skeleton. Notwithstanding the state court order, Heritage Auctions completed the auction and the Tyrannosaurus Bataar skeleton sold for $1.052 million, ICE said. The sale, however, is contingent upon the outcome of any court proceedings instituted on behalf of the Mongolian Government.
Paleontologists Confirmed Skeleton was from Mongolia, Not UK
On June 5, at the request of the President of Mongolia, several paleontologists specializing in Tyrannosaurus Bataars examined the Tyrannosaurus Bataar skeleton and concluded it is a Tyrannosaurus Bataar skeleton that was unearthed from the Western Gobi Desert in Mongolia between 1995 and 2005, ICE said.