Peter Larson

American dinosaur dealer

Peter Lars Larson is an American fossil dealer who is head of the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, which specialises in the excavation and preparation of fossils. He led the team that excavated "Sue", one of the largest and most complete specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex, which was the subject of a legal dispute resulting in its seizure and public auction. In 1996, Larson was convicted of customs violations related to failing to declare money he had brought from overseas as well as taking two fossils from federal land, and served 18 months in prison.

In 1990, Larson led the excavation of a substantially complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton later named "Sue". Larson paid the Sioux owner of the ranch on which the specimen was located, Maurice Williams, $5,000 for the find. On 14 May 1992, a raid led by the U. S. Attorney Kevin Shieffer with 35 F. B. I. agents and 20 National Guardsmen recovered the Tyrannosaurus rex named "Sue" from Larson's commercial fossil dealership, the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research. The federal agents seized the fossil of "Sue", along with other fossils and records. Although Larson had paid the landowner for the find, Following a trial on charges unrelated to "Sue", Larson was found guilty and convicted of two felony counts for United States customs violations involving cash brought from overseas, as well as two misdemeanours relating to illegally taking two fossils from federal land. Of the 149 charges faced by Larson and other Black Hills associates, the jury acquitted the defendants of 73 charges, found them guilty of 8 charges and did not reach a verdict on 68 charges. Larson ended up serving 18 months

In 1992, Larson's team helped to discover the Tyrannosaurus rex specimen, Stan. In 2012, Larson fired his brother, Neal, from the Black Hills Institute amid personal differences. Neal, owning a 35% share of the company, filed a lawsuit against Larson and others in 2015 alleging that he was being oppressed as a shareholder. He sought to liquidate the company to buy out his 35% share ownership and part ways. The court ruled that Neal's shareholder rights had been violated when he was not invited nor allowed to speak at the meeting where he was fired. The Black Hills Institute did not have enough cash for a buyout, causing Larson's fossil collection to be appraised. Several years later, the court ruled that Neal would receive the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton "Stan", which was appraised at a value of $6 million at the time. "Stan" was sold for $32 million in 2020. He was one of the first to work with T. rex bone pathologies, has worked to uncover sexual dimorphism in the chevron length of T. rex, and argues that several juvenile T. rex skeletons actually represent a distinct genus, Nanotyrannus. Larson, along with paleontologist Kenneth Carpenter, edited the scholarly text Tyrannosaurus Rex, the Tyrant King. Larson and his ex wife Kristin Donnan wrote the book, Rex Appeal, about the U. S. Government taking possession of "Sue" following its excavation. The pair also wrote Bones Rock!, a children's book about the history of paleontology and requirements on how to become a paleontologist. On the other hand, Larson has published scientific papers about dinosaurs and has contributed to community outreach programs, such as teaching inmates about paleontology while serving his two year prison sentence in Federal prison. The benefits and drawbacks of selling fossils has been a topic for more than 100 years between academic and professional paleontologists throughout the 20th century. Collaborative work created the primary collections that introduced the public to dinosaurs, but also introduced the idea of fiscal value to resources that some argue fall into the public domain. Academics who reject the practice claim that the high prices that fossils like "Sue" bring in the marketplace prevent public institutions from competing, as private landowners see their fossils as "crops" and are less likely to donate them. Larson has gained some supporters in academia. Robert Bakker, Curator of Paleontology for the Houston Museum of Natural Science, described Larson in 1996 as a responsible paleontologist.

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) wrote a formal letter to United States Attorney Kevin Schieffer, endorsing the Federal government's raid of Larson's company, The Black Hills Institute, and seizure of "Sue". At the time, Robert Hunt Jr. of the University of Nebraska, secretary treasurer of the SVP, stated that "America's national heritage of fossils is being bled away by commercial operations, which should be stopped."