New York And New Jersey Ban Fossil Ivory

[Carcharodontosaurus]

This news is from June, but I'm surprised that the forum didn't pick it up earlier.

Fossil ivory and mammoth/mastodon teeth have been banned from sale in New York and New Jersey:

http://aaps.net/fossil-ivory-ban.html

http://www.jewelsdujour.com/2014/06/new-york-passes-law-banning-sale-of-elephant-mammoth-ivory/

[izak_]

Wow, thats… idk what to say on that...

How will this affect people?

Thanks

[Scylla]

Well, now we can't buy and sell fossil ivory and teeth. State legislators are still relatively cheap though

[Search4]

I have never seen a lion-head skin, bust of a rhino, or modern elephant tusks in any of my friends houses growing up. But I have seen these items repeatedly in magazine spotlights of hunting lodges and homes of the wealthy elite.

Is it that hard for the authorities to tell the difference between modern and fossilized ivory?

[Missourian]

Is it that hard for the authorities to tell the difference between modern and fossilized ivory?

I've always thought that the structure of mammoth and elephant ivory is different.

I found this image online:

They are obviously different, but perhaps not to the average inspector in customs.

[Auspex]

...They are obviously different, but perhaps not to the average inspector in customs.

Therein lies the rub.

[Carcharodontosaurus]

Is there any way that the fossil ivory ban could be repealed through reason?

[Missourian]

f. The Department of Environmental Protection may permit, under terms and conditions as the department may prescribe, the import, sale, offer for sale, purchase, barter, or possession with intent to sell, any ivory, ivory product, rhinoceros horn, or rhinoceros horn product for bona fide educational or scientific purposes, unless this activity is prohibited by federal law.

So would amateur collecting (finding/collecting; obtaining/purchasing; giving/selling) fall under 'educational' or possibly 'scientific' purposes?

Edited December 10, 2014 by Missourian

[sseth]

Well, now we can't buy and sell fossil ivory and teeth. State legislators are still relatively cheap though

LOL!!!

[Oxytropidoceras]

People are also having trouble with meteorites that

are legal to own. Go see [meteorite-list] Detained at

LAX for Esquel by Mikchael Farmer, Meteorite-List at

http://www.mail-archive.com/meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com/msg119788.html

By the way, a web page indentifying mammoth ivory

is "Natural Ivory" at https://web.archive.org/web/20140810163447/http://www.fws.gov/lab/ivory_natural.php

It discusses Schreger angles / Schreger lines and

using them to differentiate mammoth versus

elephant ivory.

A paper about Schreger angles / Schreger lines is:

Palombo, M. R., and P. Villa, 2001, Schreger lines as

support in the Elephantinae identification. The World

of Elephants - International Congress, Rome 2001

PDF file at https://web.archive.org/web/20141212142352/http://www0.museobarracco.it/content/download/4914/63009/file/656_660.pdf

and linked at https://web.archive.org/web/20141212142127/http://www0.museobarracco.it/cosa_facciamo/studi_e_ricerche/la_terra_degli_elefanti/workshop_elephantidae_origine_ed_evoluzione_coordinatore_j_shoshani_elephantidae_origin_and_evolution_chair_j_shoshani

The complate monograph i("La Terra degli Elefanti –

The World of Elephants" is at

http://www0.museobarracco.it/cosa_facciamo/studi_e_ricerche/la_terra_degli_elefanti

"The World of Elephants" has numerous papers about

mammoths and mastodons.

Yours,

Paul H.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Oxytropidoceras

[Just Bob]

So would amateur collecting (finding/collecting; obtaining/purchasing; giving/selling) fall under 'educational' or possibly 'scientific' purposes?

If you mean an amateur collector actually finding one and keeping it for himself, or having purchased one in the past, I didn't see anything that forbids it in the new law. It sounds like purchasing one or even selling one right now (even to an "educational or scientific institution or organization") other then with permission from the Department of Environmental Protecation is a no no. Now that probably doesn't mean you can't donate it.

Now if your talking about an amateur collector being considered the same as "educational or scientific institutions" not a chance. I am waiting for them to tell us we can't keep any fossils at all from NJ, private land or not.

[squali]

This legislation is driven by animal rights activists that

are not concerned with differentiating local fossils from

Illegaly obtained ivory. The legislators think it's a no brainer

since there aren't any living Ivory producing animals here.

Considering the very slight chance I have of finding any prehistoric

Ivory it seems like an example of expensive legislation that is extremely

difficult to enforce. If you want to purchase it go to Pennsylvania.