The Tarbosaurus is not the sole specimen being returned to Mongolia. After he pleaded guilty in December, Prokopi agreed to surrender a number of other dinosaur fossils from Mongolia and one specimen from China. The Mongolian specimens included fossils from two duck-billed hadrosaurs; a number of birdlike oviraptors, most still embedded in matrix; and a second Tarbosaurus specimen.
A growing listDuring the ceremony, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara announced that the list of returns has grown even longer. A fossil dealer in England named Chris Moore is surrendering a number of Mongolian fossils as part of an agreement to avoid litigation.
Moore was involved in the T. bataar case; both he and Prokopi were listed as sellers on Heritage Auctions’ consignment agreement for that dinosaur. However, Moore did not become publicly involved in the ownership dispute over the specimen.
Moore is shipping Tarbosaurus and many other fossils to the United States for repatriation to Mongolia. The 18-item list contained in a court document includes fossils from a chickenlike carnivorous dinosaur known as Gallimimus, duck-billed Hadrosaurs, armored Ankylosaurs and others.
The high-profile T. bataar case has sparked more interest in paleontology among Mongolians, Oyungerel said.
“Before T. bataarwe vaguely knew about what we had, we knew we are a land of dinosaurs,” she said. “(But) we didn’t have a single star who can be a representation of the whole paleontological heritage that we have. That’s why Tarbosaurus bataar became like a hero.”
