trading fossil

The lecturer rejects the ideas presented in the reading passage about the problems involved in the booming business of commercial fossil trading. In her opinion, the benefits of this new development outweigh its negative consequences.

The lecturer does not agree with the first point made in the reading—that private collectors keep their fossil collections away from the public. She contends that the commercial trading of fossils actually makes them available to a wider public, because everyone with a budget, such as private schools and libraries, can purchase them for study and exhibition.

The lecturer goes on to refute the claim in the reading that fossil trading business prevents scientists and public museum from benefiting from fossil finds, as these parties cannot compete with wealthy private buyers to acquire important fossils for research purpose. On the contrary, she argues, scientists themselves are the first to evaluate any important fossil before it can be sold in the commercial market at a price, so the academic community does not miss any opportunity to study privately traded fossils.

Additionally, the lecturer challenges the final downside of fossil trading mentioned in the reading. The lecturer reminds us that the damages, if any, caused by private collectors in their field operations are more than offset by the effort these individuals have made to increase the number of fossils available to the public that would otherwise remain undiscovered.