For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON—Based on the best scientific information available at press time, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC reported on the Archaeoraptor fossil in the November issue of the magazine.

Only after the magazine had been published did NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC learn about the possibility that the fossil might be a composite. If it is a composite, it initially escaped detection by a team of scientists that included top experts on bird origins.

We immediately began an investigation into the matter and took the earliest possible opportunity to publish a disclosure of the new information in NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine (March 2000). We were obviously disappointed to hear that Archaeoraptor might be a composite and are committed to getting to the bottom of the mystery of this fossil. The magazine will report the findings to its readers.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC is currently in negotiations with scientists in China and the U.S. to get the fossils together for an independent review. This is the only way to determine conclusively if Archaeoraptor is a composite.

We also funded the original CT scanning work on the fossil and hope to see the published analysis in a peer-reviewed journal soon.

Regardless of Archaeoraptor, most paleontologists have been convinced for some time that birds emerged from dinosaurs. This is based on a wealth of evidence unrelated to any of the current fossils from China.

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