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Designation as cultural heritage best protects Brazilian fossils

Nature Ecology & Evolution (2024)Cite this article

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Kuhn et al.1 write that in our recent Nature Ecology & Evolution publication2, we overlook Brazilian legislation that considers fossils as mineral or natural heritage in favour of legislation that considers fossils to be cultural heritage, and that fossils are more appropriately considered as mineral heritage. Given the constraints of format, we emphasize that the information in our Comment on Brazilian legislation was illustrative rather than exhaustive (a necessary condition given the complexity of Brazilian law on the subject of fossils). The laws that we discussed and presented in figure 1 of ref. 2 are those that are most important and that have served as the basis for decision-making regarding repatriations (especially with Brazilian and foreign ministries). Furthermore, the laws presented in figure 1 of ref. 2 do in fact cover laws on natural (=mineral) heritage (laws of 1942, 1990, 2000 and 2016), as well as cultural heritage (laws of 1973 and 1988) and environmental protection (law of 1998). Thus, we disagree that we have presented a biased portrayal of fossils under Brazilian law.

We also disagree with the idea that laws related to mineral and cultural heritage are conflicting.

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References

  1. Kuhn, C. E. S. et al. Nat. Ecol. Evol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02396-7 (2024).

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  2. Araújo-Júnior, H. I. et al. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 8, 355–358 (2024).

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  3. Chamber of Deputies. Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil, 3 edn (Documentation and Information Center, Publishing Coordination 2010).

  4. Brazilian Federation of Geologists – FEBRAGEO. Fósseis e a legislação brasileira: o que é preciso mudar? febrageo.org.br, https://www.febrageo.org.br/fosseis-e-a-legislacao-brasileira-o-que-e-preciso-mudar (2023).

  5. International Council of Museums. Red List of Brazilian cultural objects at risk. icom.museum, https://icom.museum/en/ressource/red-list-brazil-english/ (2022).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Board of the Brazilian Society of Palaeontology https://sbpbrasil.org/

    Hermínio Ismael de Araújo-Júnior, Renato Pirani Ghilardi, Silane Aparecida Ferreira da Silva Caminha, Victor Rodrigues Ribeiro, Fernando Henrique de Souza Barbosa, Sandro Marcelo Scheffler & Ana Maria Ribeiro

  2. Departamento de Estratigrafia e Paleontologia, Faculdade de Geologia, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Hermínio Ismael de Araújo-Júnior & Fernando Henrique de Souza Barbosa

  3. Laboratório de Paleontologia de Macroinvertebrados, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Bauru, Brazil

    Renato Pirani Ghilardi & Victor Rodrigues Ribeiro

  4. Laboratório de Paleontologia e Palinologia, Faculdade de Geociências, Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, Brazil

    Silane Aparecida Ferreira da Silva Caminha

  5. Escola Normal Superior, Universidade do Estado do Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil

    Fernando Henrique de Souza Barbosa

  6. Laboratório de Paleoinvertebrados, Departamento de Geologia e Paleontologia, Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Sandro Marcelo Scheffler

  7. Museu de Ciências Naturais, Secretaria do Meio Ambiente e Infraestrutura, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Ana Maria Ribeiro

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  1. Hermínio Ismael de Araújo-Júnior
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  2. Renato Pirani Ghilardi
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  7. Ana Maria Ribeiro
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hermínio Ismael de Araújo-Júnior.

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de Araújo-Júnior, H.I., Ghilardi, R.P., da Silva Caminha, S.A.F. et al. Designation as cultural heritage best protects Brazilian fossils. Nat Ecol Evol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02397-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02397-6

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