Germany has agreed to return a rare dinosaur skull to Brazil, marking a significant victory in a long-running restitution campaign. The fossil, known as Irritator challengeri, is a 113-million-year-old spinosaurid skull that has been housed in Stuttgart’s museum of natural history since 1991.
The Discovery and Naming of Irritator
When the Stuttgart museum acquired the fossilised skull in 1991, researchers soon realised it was the most complete spinosaurid skull ever found, belonging to a previously unknown genus of large meat-eating dinosaurs. In 1996, palaeontologists named the genus Irritator – reflecting their frustration upon discovering that the snout had been artificially modified. The species name challengeri honours Professor Challenger from Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel The Lost World.
Brazil’s Claim and Legal Concerns
As scientific studies on the skull proliferated, experts in Brazil began to raise concerns. The fossil is believed to have originated in Brazil, where a 1942 law declares that fossils belong to the state. Since 1990, exporting specimens requires a permit and a partnership with a Brazilian scientific institution. The exact circumstances of Irritator’s excavation and departure from Brazil remain unknown, casting doubt on its legal status.
A joint declaration issued this month by Germany and Brazil states: “Both sides value the scientific cooperation in the field of fossil research, with the aim of utilising the expertise and exhibits available in Germany and Brazil for the mutual benefit of both countries. In this context, both governments welcome the willingness of the state of Baden-Württemberg and the state museum of natural history in Stuttgart to hand over the Irritator challengeri fossil to Brazil.”
Campaign for Repatriation
Concerns over the skull’s ownership and ethics led to a sustained repatriation campaign. An open letter signed by 263 experts from around the world, along with an online petition garnering over 34,000 signatures, called for its return. Professor Aline Ghilardi, a Brazilian palaeontologist involved in the campaign, hailed the announcement: “Its return is an important and positive step, and I hope that the process moves forward swiftly. This fossil will be widely celebrated and holds deep scientific, cultural and symbolic importance for Brazil.”
Professor Allysson Pontes Pinheiro of Cariri Regional University in Brazil noted that the repatriation adds to recent returns from France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the United States. He described it as “a sign of progress toward a more ethical and less colonial science – one that is more closely aligned with local realities and better respects rights, laws, cultures and identities.”
Mixed Reactions and Future Implications
No date has been set for the physical return. Some experts expressed disappointment that the joint declaration uses the phrase “handed over” rather than “repatriated” or “returned.” Ghilardi called it “a missed opportunity to more explicitly address the issue in terms of restitution.”
Paul Stewens, a legal researcher at Maastricht University who helped organise the open letter, argued that removing specimens from their origin countries without local involvement exemplifies neo-colonial research practices. He said, “The research output, museum income – they don’t stay in the country from which the fossil originated.”
In 2023, another fossil named Ubirajara was returned from Germany to Brazil after a long campaign. Dr. Emma Dunne of Trinity College Dublin, who helped draft the Irritator letter, noted there are “many more specimens that should return home.”
However, Professor David Martill of the University of Portsmouth, who studied the skull, expressed mixed feelings: “I am delighted to see Irritator return to Brazil, but I think it’s a real shame that some Brazilians turned it into a political hot potato and picked on German museums” when many Brazilian specimens are held elsewhere, especially in the United States. He added, “I hope they look after it, as we spent many man hours preparing the specimen and studying it.”
Stewens doubted that this return would trigger a flood of repatriation requests but believed the diplomatic efforts could foster collaborative programmes, such as enabling Brazilian scientists to study specimens in Germany. He concluded, “I think the trailblazing element about this restitution is the element of cooperation between the governments. It shows that there is a lot of space for non-zero-sum solutions.”
