"The fossil Ubirajara jubatus, the first non-avian dinosaur with feather-like structures found in South America, returned to Brazil on Sunday," Brazil's Ministry of Science and Technology said.
The specimen arrived in Brasilia with a German government delegation on an official visit, led by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
It is the fossil of a chicken-sized dinosaur, covered with feathers, who lived in the northeastern Brazilian state of Ceara. It was discovered by foreign researchers in the 1990s and then transferred to Germany for study.
Housed until now at the Natural History Museum in Karlsruhe, southwestern Germany, it will now be part of the collection of the Placido Cidade Nuvens Museum of Paleontology in Ceara.
A controversy surrounded the fossil since December 2020 and the publication of an article in a scientific journal describing the new species. The article revealed that no Brazilian scientists participated in his study, suggesting that he had left Brazil irregularly.
Since 1942, Brazilian law has stipulated that fossils are part of the national heritage and official permission is required for them to leave the country.
Brazilian scientists had launched a social media campaign calling for the return of the specimen under the slogan #UbirajarabelongstoBR (Ubirajara belongs to Brazil).
"Without the mobilization of the Brazilian scientific community, we would not have succeeded. The German government was sensitive to our struggle and, together, we achieved this victory," Brazil's Secretary of State for Science and Technology, Inacio Arruda, said in a press release.
© 2023 AFP