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Cisneros JC, Raja NB, Ghilardi AM, Dunne EM, Pinheiro FL, Regalado Fernández OR, Sales MAF, Rodríguez-de la Rosa RA, Miranda-Martínez AY, González-Mora S, Bantim RAM, de Lima FJ, Pardo JD. Digging deeper into colonial palaeontological practices in modern day Mexico and Brazil. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:210898. [PMID: 35291323 PMCID: PMC8889171 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.210898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2021] [Accepted: 02/07/2022] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Scientific practices stemming from colonialism, whereby middle- and low-income countries supply data for high-income countries and the contributions of local expertise are devalued, are still prevalent today in the field of palaeontology. In response to these unjust practices, countries such as Mexico and Brazil adopted protective laws and regulations during the twentieth century to preserve their palaeontological heritage. However, scientific colonialism is still reflected in many publications describing fossil specimens recovered from these countries. Here, we present examples of 'palaeontological colonialism' from publications on Jurassic-Cretaceous fossils from NE Mexico and NE Brazil spanning the last three decades. Common issues that we identified in these publications are the absence of both fieldwork and export permit declarations and the lack of local experts among authorships. In Mexico, access to many fossil specimens is restricted on account of these specimens being housed in private collections, whereas a high number of studies on Brazilian fossils are based on specimens illegally reposited in foreign collections, particularly in Germany and Japan. Finally, we outline and discuss the wider academic and social impacts of these research practices, and propose exhaustive recommendations to scientists, journals, museums, research institutions and government and funding agencies in order to overcome these practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Carlos Cisneros
- Museu de Arqueologia e Paleontologia, Universidade Federal do Piauí (UFPI), Teresina, PI 64049-550, Brazil
| | - Nussaïbah B. Raja
- GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Department of Geography and Geosciences, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Loewenichstr. 28, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Aline M. Ghilardi
- Departamento de Geologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Brazil
| | - Emma M. Dunne
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - Felipe L. Pinheiro
- Laboratório de Paleobiologia, Universidade Federal do Pampa, São Gabriel, Brazil
| | | | - Marcos A. F. Sales
- Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Ceará (IFCE) – Campus Acopiara, Acopiara, Ceará, Brazil
| | - Rubén A. Rodríguez-de la Rosa
- Unidad Académica de Ciencias Biológicas-Unidad Académica de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, Calzada Solidaridad, S/N, Campus II, C.P. 98060, Zacatecas, Mexico
| | - Adriana Y. Miranda-Martínez
- Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510 Ciudad de México, México
| | - Sergio González-Mora
- Museo de Paleontología, Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510 Ciudad de México, México
| | - Renan A. M. Bantim
- Laboratório de Paleontologia, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Regional do Cariri, Rua Coronel Antônio Luís, 1161, Pimenta, Crato, Ceará, Brazil
| | - Flaviana J. de Lima
- Laboratório de Paleobiologia e Microestruturas, Centro Acadêmico de Vitória – Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (CAV/UFPE), R. Alto do Reservatório – Alto José Leal, Vitória de Santo Antão, Pernambuco, Brazil
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