Sir

Your News item “Elusive fossil could conceal answer to dinosaur debate” (Nature 412, 844, 2001) about the Chinese psittacosaurid with preserved integuments prompts me to add some information. Early last year, I was invited to travel to the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale in Milan, and hence was able to examine the specimen in some detail. I was satisfied that the integumentary remains are real, and apparently different from the feathers or protofeathers seen on some theropod specimens from the same provenance.

At the time, my Italian colleagues in Milan hoped that a joint study of the specimen with Chinese colleagues could be arranged, after which the fossil would be returned to China. Together with my wife, Dr Haiyan Tong, and others, we tried to have the psittacosaur returned to a Chinese institution, by providing possible contacts in China. But our attempt failed and the specimen was removed from the Milan museum.

I do not know the exact reason for our failure, but one result was that plans for a joint study in Milan were dropped. I am ignorant of the present whereabouts of the specimen. Of course, I have always believed that the fossil should be returned to its country of origin, and I have no intention of publishing anything formal about it, other than this brief note, which I hope may shed some light.