2023-10-16 17:30:12
The fossil “Ubirajara jubatus”, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Science and Technology, in Brasilia, June 5, 2023. RAUL VASCONCELOS/AFP
” He is back ! » This June 12, 2023, the Brazilian press is euphoric. A plane lands in Brasilia with a local child on board who has returned from Germany. The prestigious welcoming committee is made up of a minister, officials, diplomats, museum and university directors. Present, Elmano de Freitas, left-wing governor of the state of Ceara (Nordeste), speaks and greets a “historical moment” for Brazil.
Except that the star of the day is neither a footballer’s Golden Ball nor a Carnival muse, but a fossil the size of a large chicken. Preserved in two plates filled with limestone, Ubirajara jubatus, a Cretaceous dinosaur, evolved 110 million years ago in the current region of Cariri, in Ceara. Today he is received “at home” and with honors: the beautiful conclusion of a long adventure and the outcome of an ardent controversy.
It’s been years since the return ofUbirajara was demanded by Brasilia. Preserved at the Karlsruhe Natural History Museum (SMNK), Germany, it is of exceptional value. 40 centimeters high, this small carnivore covered in feathers had a curious filamentous structure at the neck, similar to picks or javelins, which gave it its name: Ubirajarain the indigenous Tupi language, means “lord of the spear”.
But it was first of all the conditions of its discovery which justified the repatriation. Officially, Ubirajara was reportedly found in 1995 in a mine in the Araripe sedimentary basin, then transferred to Karlsruhe. For twenty-five years, the fossil rested on the shelves of the SMNK when, in December 2020, it finally saw its description published in the journal Cretaceous Research, from the pen of five researchers, German, British and Mexican.
“No specific authorization”
The scandal broke out immediately. The description of such a prestigious fossil, stored in Europe, by foreign researchers shocks Brazilian scientists. Exit conditionsUbirajara appear suspicious, if not illegal. “These researchers did not mention any specific authorization in their article”recalls Aline Ghilardi, paleontologist at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, who denounced the case on Twitter (which became X) and created a hashtag: #ubirajarabelongstobr, “ Ubirajara belongs to Brazil.” It goes viral and the controversy grows.
Caught in the turmoil, Cretaceous Research withdraws its publication. For its part, the Karlsruhe museum, an institution built in 1785, is struggling to defend itself and refuses any restitution of the fossil. But political leaders get involved. The Land of Baden-Württemberg asserts thatUbirajara would in fact have been acquired in 2009 by the SMNK, undoubtedly purchased illegally. The return of the dinosaur to Brazil is finally ordered in July 2022.
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