[Rockhounds] Bob & Bonnie Finney rare bat fossil

[Brett Whitenack]

Brett Whitenack <whitbre at sbcglobal.net> wrote:    Congratulations to the"Bat Girl." Must be pretty exciting to unearth something like that. Only thing that bothers me a little bit is that the specimen went to Canada. Is it going to stay there or is it only on display for a specific amount of time and then coming home to Wyoming?
   
  I may be in the minority but I strongly believe that rare or unusual fossil specimens should stay within their country or state of origin if they can be studied and properly cared for there. Or at least go back to their place of origin after they have been carefully studied at an accredited university or museum. If they are common varieties or duplicates then I would have no problems at all with them going to other places and in fact encourage that so others around the world can share in the wonders of our prehistoric past.
   
  However, it is this type of thing that can cause issues with academia and commercial collectors. This specimen, being the first of its kind, is a type specimen and should stay in Wyoming or at least the U.S. even if it was studied by five different museums and other agencies. If I was a commercial collector and went to Canada and found a new species of dinosaur, and donated or sold it to an institution in Europe or elsewhere, wouldn't the people of Canada feel upset that their fossil heritage is leaving their country?
   
  I don't mean to sound negative but that's just my opinion for what it is worth.
   
  Lastly, while Bonnie Finney isn't the first and only women to have a fossil species named after her, she is in good company:
   
  Mary Anning, famous amateur paleontologist of  Lyme Regis, England, had two fossil species named after her.
   
  Effigia okeeffeae a toothless crocodile relative in New Mexico named after the artist Georgia O'Keeffe.
   
  Nelly Hooper Ludbrook, was an Australian paleontologist who had at least 17 fossil species and one genus of fossil mollusk named in her honor.
   
  Josephine Ettel Kablick was a Czechoslovakian paleontologist and has many plant fossils named after her.
   
  I would wager that Bonnie is the first to have a bat fossil named after her though. What an honor and a way to be remembered for her discovery.
   
  Brett W.







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