Switzerland Formalizes Return of Araripe Fossils as Brazil Receives Lots From Argentina and Italy

Overview

• The Swiss Federal Office of Culture in Bern formalized a voluntary donation of fossils held by the University of Zurich’s paleontology museum.
• The shipment to Ceará totals eight boxes weighing about 150 kg, largely fish and reptile fossils up to roughly 120 million years old, including Rhacolepis, Vinctifer and Cladocyclus.
• The collection will be housed at the Museu de Paleontologia Plácido Cidade Nuvens in Santana do Cariri as federal cultural heritage, with transport paid by the state government.
• Brazil’s embassy in Bern coordinated the process, which is being formalized under a bilateral donation consistent with the 1970 UNESCO Convention.
• Additional deliveries from Argentina and Italy were processed in Brasília, including Brazil’s first repatriated microfossils from Argentina, while the Federal Prosecution Service reports 34 international recovery requests still pending with the United States and Germany among the largest.