Thestudyoffossils
Digging deep
W
hatyouseedependsonwhereyou
stand. The unarguable fact that most
palaeontologists live in the rich world
means two things. One is that the fossils of
these places are far better studied than
those of poorer countries, which is a scien-
tific pity. The other is that what knowledge
has been garnered about poor-country pa-
laeontology is frequently the result of vis-
its by rich-country palaeontologists.
All this was well known, if not quanti-
fied, before Nussaibah Raja put numbers
on it in a paper published in Nature Ecology
and Evolution. Ms Raja, however, sees not
just a regrettable history-induced bias that
should certainly be addressed in future,
but also a continuing pillage of poor coun-
tries by the scientific establishments of
rich places more powerful than they.
Perhaps. But an alternative view is pos-
sible. This is that many of the world’s poor
countries have higher priorities than
studying their fossils, that letting foreign
researchers do it for them is not wrong,
provided no laws are broken, and that it is
patronising to suggest otherwise. More-
over, as Ms Raja observes, several not-yet-
properly rich places, notably China, Brazil,
Argentina, Mexico and India, are indeed
developing as palaeontological powers in
their own right. And, as she further points
out, Chinese palaeontologists are starting
to take an interest in neighbouring Myan-
mar’s fossiliferous amber beds that a cynic
might see as at least as predatory as that of
any Western fossil hunter.
Ms Raja rightly notes that rich-country
scientists could do more to assist their
poor-world hosts, especially by recruiting
local researchers onto their teams to trans-
fer expertise—something they are current-
ly bad at. But it takes two to tango. And not
everywhereyethas the political will, insti-
tutional depth,or, indeed, money, to join
in the dance.n
The tricky relationship between
palaeontology and poor countries
SpainItalyAustraliaChinaRussiaCanadaFranceBritainGermanyUnitedStatesDiscoveriesabroadwithlocalcollaboration Discoverieswithlocalcollaboration0 10 20 30Fossilsdiscovered,bycountryofresearcher,%NamibiaEthiopiaUzbekistanOmanKyrgyzstanTanzaniaMadagascarMoroccoDominicanRep.Myanmar0 200 400 600 800Fossilsdiscovered,bysourcecountryNo Ye s No Ye sDomestic→ Fossil discoveries around the world*, 1990-00China
JapanIndiaCanadaSouthAfricaAustralia
NewZealandGermanyBritain FranceRussia
Spain
Italy
Poland
Switz.
Netherlands
CzechRepublic
Belgium
Sweden
AustriaUnited
StatesCountryofauthorlinked
tocountryoffossil→ArgentinaBrazil
MexicoAfricaAsiaAmericasEuropeOceaniaMyanmarDominican
RepublicMorocco MongoliaPeruNumberofpublicationsabout
foreignfossildiscoveries100 1,000 ,000Source: Nature Ecology & Evolution *Data from the Paleobiology Database (PBDB)↓ Researchers in high- or upper-
middle-income countries
contributed to 97% of fossil dataThe Economist January 8th 2022 Science & technology 71The Richard Casement internship. We invite
applications for the 2022 Richard Casement
internship. We are looking for a would-be journalist
to spend three months of the summer working on
the newspaper in London (covid-19 permitting;
otherwise remotely), writing about science and
technology. Applicants should compose a letter
introducing themselves and an article of about 600
words that they think would be suitable for
publication in the Science & technology section. The
successful candidate will receive a stipend of £2,000
a month. Applications must reach us by midnight on
January 28th. They should be sent to:
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