U.S. Returns Stolen Mongolian Dinosaur Fossils

Stolen dinosaur fossils were returned by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HS) agents last Tuesday to Mongolia. The fossils include the Alioramus skull, Protoceratops baby skeleton pieces, Bactrosaurus skeleton, Hadrosaurus skeleton, Psittacosaurus skeleton and the Troodontid egg bed.

Newsweek reports that the Alioramus skull is believed to be existed 70 million years ago and associated with T-rex. It was put on sale on eBay for $300,000 by a French dealer before it was shipped to New Jersey. It has papers that claimed the fossils were duplication from France. On the other hand, it was confirmed later on that the fossils originated from Mongolia.

In the past three years, U.S. also returned over a dozen trafficked dinosaur skeletons to Mongolia, according to BBC News. These include the Oviprators and the bataars. It is known that the largest dinosaur fossil beds all over the world can be found in Mongolia.

"We are proud of our role restoring the rich paleontological heritage to the Mongolian people and taking these cultural treasures from the hands of looters and smugglers," said Robert capers, the Brooklyn's U.S. attorney and hosted the ceremony of returning the fossils. He said that they stood beside the Mongolians and returned the smuggled fossils back to their home where they can study and treasure them.

Most of the dinosaurs' fossils are found in the Flaming Cliffs, which is also known as Bayanzag. It is a region of the Gobi Desert located in the Omnogovi Province of Mongolia. The American paleontologist, Roy Chapman, named the place "Flaming Cliffs" when he visited it in 1920.

Some of the fossils that can be found in Flaming Cliffs are the Ornithomimids, Oviraptirids, Therizinosaurid, Ceratopsians, Hadrosaurids and Maniraptorans, among others. The first dinosaur eggs were also seen in the Flaming Cliffs. The law enforces no removing of dinosaur fossils without the suitable permits.