Abstract
Comment on the letter of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) dated April 21, 2020 regarding \u201cFossils from conflict zones and reproducibility of fossil-based scientific data\u201d: the importance of private collections
Highlights
We would like to note that many professional palaeontologists have started as amateur palaeontologists, usually during their childhood; the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) letter potentially reduces the number of future profes‐ sional palaeontologists
The SVP letter recommends that editors should add the following to their policies: “Any fossil specimen that is described or illustrated in a manuscript intended for pub‐ lication must be formally accessioned into a permanent, accessible repository, where the specimen will be available for study by the scientific community
We vehemently disa‐ gree that the deposition of a specimen in a public collection automatically secures its availability for future research and that specimens in private collections are generally deemed inaccessible. Another query concerning these issues comes to mind: What are the requirements for a “stable repository within the public trust” as requested in the SVP letter? Does it have to be funded by governmental institutions, or may it be privately financed? Can it be a regional/municipal museum funded by a province, a city or a smaller community? In general, the ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums (ICOM 2017) and the ICOM Code of Ethics for Natural History Museums (ICOM 2013) do not distin‐ guish between museums in public/governmental and private properties
Summary
The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) has recently circulated a letter, dated 21st April, 2020, to more than 300 palaeontological journals, signed by the President, Vice President and a former President of the society (Rayfield et al 2020). A recent, widely recognised example (e.g. by the BBC, Science, The Washington Post) comes from the field of insect ecology in which a massive decline of flying insect biomass over the last 27 years was documented with the aid of a team of ama‐ teur scientists (Hallmann et al 2017, 2020) Another impor‐ tant example is the international “MECO Project” (Medi‐ terranean Elasmobranch Citizen Observations), for which variable numbers of citizen scientists provide information for scientific studies (e.g. Jambura et al in review). We would like to note that many (or most) professional palaeontologists have started as amateur palaeontologists, usually during their childhood; the SVP letter potentially reduces the number of future profes‐ sional palaeontologists It unintentionally patronises this peer group, which is important for our field
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