France to return smuggled dinosaur skeleton to Mongolia

"France was to hand over a 70 million-year-old dinosaur skeleton to Mongolia on Monday which was looted from the Gobi desert and seized by French customs. The "extremely rare" fossil of a Tarbosaurus baatar, considered to be the Asian cousin of the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex, was seized by French officials in 2015. Public Accounts Minister Amelie de Montchalin was to hand it and around 30 other items including dinosaur eggs over later on Monday."

"They had been looted from the Gobi Desert before passing through South Korea and were confiscated by customs during a seizure in the central town of Gannat in February 2015. "This is an entire Tarbosaurus, estimated at around €700,000 when it was seized, but since then the market has exploded, so we could say it is worth two to three times that amount today," Sophie Hocquerelle, communications manager for French customs, told France 2 television on Sunday."

"She described the find as "an exceptional discovery". Tarbosaurus bataar lived during the Cretaceous period and disappeared some 65 million years ago. There have been no specimens of T.bataar reported outside of Asia. Thousands of ancient fossils have disappeared from Mongolia since American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews - supposedly the inspiration for the movie character Indiana Jones - discovered dinosaur eggs there a century ago. Paleontologists and smugglers alike have descended on the desert ever since."

France returned a 70-million-year-old Tarbosaurus bataar skeleton to Mongolia after French customs seized it in 2015 following illicit removal from the Gobi Desert. The "extremely rare" fossil had passed through South Korea and was confiscated during a seizure in Gannat; initial valuation was about €700,000 though market prices rose markedly. Public Accounts Minister Amelie de Montchalin handed over the Tarbosaurus and roughly 30 other items including dinosaur eggs. Tarbosaurus bataar lived in the Cretaceous and specimens have not been reported outside Asia. Mongolia has long pursued repatriation of fossils looted since early 20th-century expeditions, amid ongoing smuggling.

Read at The Local France