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/RECORD NO.112
記録 / REC112
BREAKINGMongolia

June 2026 — A complete Tarbosaurus skeleton smuggled from Mongolia to France about 13 years ago was returned in 15 boxes.

Tarbosaurus is a large carnivorous dinosaur of the Late Cretaceous, found mainly in the Gobi Desert.
Logged 2026-07-02 19:48:00 (JST)
A complete Tarbosaurus skeleton smuggled from Mongolia to France about 13 years ago was returned in 15 boxes.

A complete skeleton of Tarbosaurus bataar, illegally removed from Mongolia and taken to France roughly 13 years ago, was returned to Mongolia. The repatriation involved 15 boxes of material, according to MONTSAME, Mongolia's national news agency.

Tarbosaurus bataar was one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs of the Late Cretaceous, roughly 70 to 66 million years ago, and is closely related to Tyrannosaurus rex. The Gobi Desert in southern Mongolia, particularly Umnugobi Province, is one of the world's most productive sites for dinosaur fossils, and the unauthorized export of such specimens is prohibited under Mongolian law.

MONTSAME reported the return in June 2026. The repatriated skeleton is expected to be used for research and display within Mongolia, and the case was recorded as an instance of the repatriation of illegally exported paleontological material.

/SOURCE
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