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Inicio > Vol. 9, Núm. 1 (2020) > Aguilar Arellano

Experiences and perspectives for the conservation of the paleontological heritage in Mexico i

Paleontología Mexicana Volumen 9, núm. 1, 2020, p. i – ii

PREFACE

Experiences and perspectives for the conservation of the paleontological heritage in Mexico

Aguilar Arellano, Felisa J.a,*; Corona-M., Eduardob

a Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Centro INAH Coahuila & Presidencia del Consejo de Paleontología, Moneda 16, Col. Centro, Ciudad de México, 06060, México.

b Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Centro INAH Morelos & Vocal Consejo de Paleontología, Matamoros 14, Col. Acapantzingo, Cuernavaca, 62440, Morelos, México.

* felisa_aguilar@inah.gob.mx

In Mexico, paleontological heritage is defined as all those fossils that can be conserved, registered, investigated, and disclosed for society's benefit due to their qualitative and quantitative characteristics and attributes. Indeed, the first and critical step is the study of fossils to recognize these attributes.

However, the nature of the fossil record is fragmentary and incomplete. Only on some occasions we obtain complete specimens or parts of populations or communities for their study, providing evidence and hypotheses about organic evolution on our planet (Benton and Harper, 2009 and references therein). Currently, the intense rhythm of anthropic activity is altering or disappearing present and past habitats even before the specialist reach the site to do his work (Aguilar Arellano and Polaco Ramos, 2006; Corona-M., 2019).

In Mexico, the fossil record has both wide chronologies and a great paleobiodiversity represented. Their study is carried out by different groups of researchers attached to the educational and research institutions distributed throughout the national territory. The scientific production of these researchers allows us to overview the biological and geological evolution of the past and current territories.

These research experiences produced diverse strategies and proposals to conserve and protect paleontological assets. Some of them are previous to the existence of a legal framework from the 1990s to onwards and some later on (Aguilar and Porras Múzquiz, 2009; Aguilar Arellano, 2012).

Therefore, the fossil record acquires various meanings ranging from the scientific one where specimens are recognized as organisms; or those that represent multiple uses such as petroleum and limestones which are remnants of old forests and marine sediments transformed and commercialized. Other fossils have educational and social

meanings and even in some of them the level of social appropriation can derive in biocultural attributes, since they were recognized as part of the human past and incorporate these findings in the local culture. Then, the legal protection of fossil specimens has become more complex (Sanz, 2009; Bedolla and Corona-M., 2020).

In 2017, INAH (Spanish acronym of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia) as a Federal Government institution with legal attributes to preserve the fossil specimens and localities in Mexico, reactivate the Council of Paleontology to attend this situation. One of the aims approved by the Council is to produce articles for academic journals as the results of research, discussion, experiences exchange, and proposals to generate the regulations that allow the investigation, protection, conservation, and outreach of the paleontological heritage in Mexico (Aguilar Arellano, 2019).

The invited editors would like to thank Dr. Josep Anton Moreno Bedmar, editor-in-chief of “Paleontología Mexicana” to present this special issue named "Experiences and perspectives for the conservation of the paleontological heritage in Mexico". In this first part, we have the contribution related to the origin and development of the well-known paleontological collection at the Facultad de Ingeniería, UNAM. Another article presents the experience of the “Museo de Paleontología Eliseo Palacios Aguilera” to produce an inventory of the named geosites of paleontological in the Central region of Chiapas and the role of society for its conservation.

The INAH's Council of Paleontology recognizes the importance of specialists' exchange of knowledge and experiences since they produce strategies to protect and conserve sites and fossils. Also, add the efforts and interaction with the various social, cultural, and political actors related to this heritage. These dialogues will allow

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generating experiences to understand the current regulatory and legal framework and to clarify the doubts produced by its application. The main expected results are a keen public

Preface

principios del siglo XXI: estudios de caso: México, Secretaría de Cultura, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Publicación electrónica (ISBN: 978-607-539-272-1), s/p.

consciousness and establish strong collaboration networks to preserve the country's paleontological heritage.

References

Aguilar, F.J., Porras-Múzquiz, H., 2009, Los fósiles del Museo de Múzquiz A.C. y su resguardo patrimonial por el Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia: Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana, 61(2), 147–153.

Aguilar Arellano, F.J., 2012, ¿Cómo proteger yacimientos paleontológicos?, la experiencia del INAH en Coahuila en México: Suplemento Cultural el Tlacuache, 2012(529), 1–2.

Aguilar Arellano, F.J., 2019, Reactivación del Consejo de Paleontología,

in Sánchez Nava, P.F. (coord.), La arqueología mexicana, a

Aguilar Arellano, F.J., Polaco Ramos, O.J., 2006, El patrimonio

paleontológico del norte de México: una propuesta para su protección, in Memorias del 2do. Encuentro Regional para el Estudio del Patrimonio Cultural, Monterrey, Nuevo León: Nuevo León, CONARTE & Gobierno del Estado de Nuevo León, 88–91.

Bedolla, A.G., Corona-M., E., 2020, Local museums and paleontology in México: some challenges and perspectives, in 2nd Palaeontological Virtual Congress, Book of Abstracts: España, Universitat de València, 72.

Benton, M.J., Harper, D.A.T., 2009, Introduction to Paleobiology and the

Fossil Record: Chichester, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 656 pp.

Corona-M., E., 2019, Diversas facetas de las relaciones entre los humanos y los animales: algunos registros en las Américas: Etnobiología, 17(2), 5–10.

Sanz, J.L., 2009, Fósiles, cultura e historia de la vida, in El alcance del darwinismo. A los 150 años de “El origen de las especies”: Madrid, Colegio Libre de Eméritos, 36–86.

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