Fossils, footprints and fakes

The Natural History Museum has undertaken a series of annual field trips to Morocco for collections enhancement purposes. Specimens are collected directly from various locations and also obtained from local collectors and dealers, introduced to the group by trusted local contacts with whom the museum has built a relationship. The 2015 fieldtrip in late February/early March was very eventful, with sudden snowfall and floods encountered, hidden mountainside quarries visited, little publicised dinosaur trackways discovered and fossil fakery by skilled preparators witnessed at first hand!. This presentation highlights the scientific value and potential pitfalls of such collaborations.