[KarlInOhio]

The skeleton...was first discovered in 2013, on private land in Montana. It became the property of the man who discovered it, Alan Detrich, a professional fossil hunter

If someone discovers something on my land he owns it instead of me? Or did the land owner already get his cut?

[centurion316]

I am not privy to the arrangement between the fossil hunter and the land owner

[FreedomPoster]

The fossil hunter almost certainly bought digging rights that gave him ownership of the fossils found.

[Moonman62]

If someone discovers something on my land he owns it instead of me? Or did the land owner already get his cut?

...

I’ve read in other recent fossil articles that the private collectors will pay a fee or lease the land for the rights to hunt for and keep the fossils.