Editing Fossil (section)

== Trading and collecting ==
{{Main|Fossil trading|Fossil collecting}}

Fossil trading is the practice of buying and selling fossils. This is often done illegally with artifacts stolen from research sites, costing many important scientific specimens each year.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/fossil-theft-one-of-our-dinosaurs-is-missing-1826931.html | work=The Independent | location=London | title=Fossil theft: One of our dinosaurs is missing | first=Cahal | last=Milmo | date=25 November 2009 | access-date=2 May 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091128064539/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/fossil-theft-one-of-our-dinosaurs-is-missing-1826931.html | archive-date=28 November 2009 | url-status=live }}<br />{{cite web|url=http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/prehistoric-world/fossil-wars.html|title=Fossil Wars|last=Simons|first=Lewis|work=National Geographic|publisher=The [[National Geographic Society]]|access-date=29 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227170051/http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/prehistoric-world/fossil-wars.html|archive-date=27 February 2012|url-status=dead}}<br />{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s532586.htm|title=Fossil Trade|work=Catalyst|date=18 April 2002|author1=Willis, Paul|author2=Clark, Tim|author3=Dennis, Carina|access-date=29 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524090915/http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s532586.htm|archive-date=24 May 2012|url-status=live}}<br />{{cite web|url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=148688&sectioncode=26|title=Cretaceous crimes that fuel the fossil trade|last=Farrar|first=Steve|date=5 November 1999|work=Times Higher Education|access-date=2 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120820030843/http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=148688&sectioncode=26|archive-date=20 August 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> The problem is quite pronounced in China, where many specimens have been stolen.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Williams|first=Paige|title=The Black Market for Dinosaurs|url=https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-black-market-for-dinosaurs|access-date=7 September 2020|magazine=The New Yorker|language=en-us|archive-date=22 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922223219/https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-black-market-for-dinosaurs|url-status=live}}</ref>

Fossil collecting (sometimes, in a non-scientific sense, fossil hunting) is the collection of fossils for scientific study, leisure, or profit. Amateur fossil collecting is the predecessor of modern paleontology and remains a practiced hobby to date. Professionals and amateurs alike collect fossils for their scientific value.