Notes On Picking Fossils (II).
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Of course, picking specimens up like they were souvenirs conspires against this task. It is clearly not the same to receive a fossil - even if it is donated - on a laboratory as to find it on the field.
Promoting the commercial exchange of fossil specimens only aggravates matters, for the main target of these merchants are individuals who just want them because they think that those rocks and imprints would look nice in their living room.
As a direct consequence of this fact, fossil poachers dedicated to extracting specimens for sale do without much concern for their proper conservation.
I have seen in Brazil, for example, really interesting samples of fossil fish for sale. The worst side of this was that since not all imprints were absolutely perfect, as it is rare to find specimens conserved entirely, some 'sculptors' had evidently altered them to look like complete fish.
This improper alteration of specimens is not new, but allowing this to happens is like letting people burn rainforest or contaminate rivers. It is against our environment and thus, against us.
