Page 202 - The Origin of Birds and Flight

200 The Origin of Birds and Flight

deal with right now, given the existence of fake fossils.

Discover: So far, only one feathered dinosaur, Archaeoraptor, has been
publicly acknowledged as a forgery. You think there are others?
FEDUCCIA: Archaeoraptor is just the tip of the iceberg. There are
scores of fake fossils out there, and they have cast a dark shadow over
the whole field. When you go to these fossil shows, it’s difficult to tell
which ones are faked and which ones are not. I have heard that there
is a fake-fossil factory in northeastern China, in Liaoning Province,
near the deposits where many of these recent alleged feathered dino-
saurs were found.

Journals like Nature don’t require specimens to be authenticated,
and the specimens immediately end up back in China, so nobody can
examine them . . . there is no way to authenticate any of this stuff.

Discover: Why would anyone fake a fossil?
FEDUCCIA: Money! The Chinese fossil trade has become a big busi-
ness. These fossil forgeries have been sold on the black market for
years now, for huge sums of money. Anyone who can produce a good
fake stands to profit.
Discover: If there are good reasons to be skeptical, why are you
perceived as being on the scientific fringe?
FEDUCCIA: The idea of being able to watch living dinosaurs by look-
ing out at the birds in your backyard bird feeder is very appealing. The
popular press naturally jumped all over it. It’s also a money game.
Many museums have promoted the idea of birds being living dino-
saurs, and they have spent huge amounts of money on exhibits about
that link. Plus, some paleontologists have spent three decades saying
that birds evolved from dinosaurs, so there are careers at stake.
Discover: Is there anything that would convince you birds really did
evolve from dinosaurs?
FEDUCCIA: At the time period when birds are thought to have
evolved, there are plenty of theropod dinosaurs, but they do not have
the key birdlike features.