Sir

The statement that “commercial fossil trading in the United States has its roots in the 1960s” in your News story “Palaeontology journal will 'fuel black market'” (Nature 445, 234–235; doi:10.1038/445234b 2007) is misleading. Parts of the US National Museum of Natural History's collection of invertebrate fossils were bought in the late nineteenth century from amateur collectors. The collector's payment sometimes included a position as a research scientist in the museum as well as money for the material supplied.

The relationship between amateur and professional palaeontologists in the United States has been, and continues to be, a strong and positive one. It is unfortunate that the unscrupulous behaviour of individuals is sometimes misconstrued as revealing a divide between these communities.