Chile seizes more than 200 fossils of extinct mollusks

SANTIAGO, Sept 25 — Customs officials in Chile discovered and seized ​more than 200 fossils of ammonites in a shipping container from Madagascar that ‌had been declared as containing household ornaments, the customs authority ⁠of the South American ​country said on Friday.

Ammonites ⁠are mollusks closely related to octopuses and squids ‌that became extinct ‌during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, a major ⁠mass extinction that wiped ⁠out all of the non-avian dinosaurs around 66 million years ago.

The seized ammonites, which date back around 110 million years, were found among the cargo of a container shipped ‌from China supposedly carrying ​chains, pendants, and glass household ornaments, Chile's National Customs Directorate said.

The "protected species discovered by Customs arrived in cardboard boxes, wrapped in newspapers and magazines from Madagascar," the agency said in a statement.

Specialists from the San Antonio Museum ​of Natural History in Chile confirmed that the ‌items were ‌genuine ⁠fossils.

Chile's customs authority said it is waiting for a response to an inquiry sent to the government of Madagascar to confirm the fossils' origin ‌and determine whether ​the African country will ‌formally request their ⁠repatriation.

(Reporting by ​Fabian Cambero; Writing by Paolo Laudani; Editing by Bill ​Berkrot)

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