HARDING COUNTY, S.D. (Jonathan Ellis / The Dakota Scout) – A paleontologist accused of stealing a dinosaur skull from western South Dakota will pay $300,000 to end a years-long saga over the whereabouts of a fossil that could be worth millions.
In return, Montana-based fossil hunter Forest Rush agreed to drop a counterclaim he filed in response to a 2023 lawsuit by a Texas-based company that hired him nearly a decade ago to lead digs for prehistoric remains in Harding County.
According to its complaint against Rush, Theropoda Exp is “a commercial paleontological company engaged in the business of locating, excavating, preparing, mounting, and sale of dinosaur fossil specimens” that had exclusive rights to search for fossils on private land in a region renowned for previous discoveries of Jurassic fossils that fetch millions on the private market. Litigation stemming from dinosaur discoveries in South Dakota is also common.
Centering on claims of theft and breach of contract, the lawsuits stemmed from a 2018 agreement between the Allen, Texas, company and Harding County landowners, giving Theropoda exclusive rights to search for dinosaur fossils. The agreement, which ran from June 14, 2018, to July 30, 2019, allowed the company to excavate and remove fossils.
With excavation rights secured, Theropoda hired Rush, who in turn used his own firm, Fossil Earth Inc., to conduct the work.
According to court filings, the company’s contract with Rush called for him to be paid a daily sum in exchange for reporting fossil findings. That didn’t take long.
In the fall of 2018, Rush reported finding a triceratops, among the most recognizable of dinosaurs. Sporting three horns and a bone-armored skull and neck that protected it from predators, the species roamed the Earth more than 65 million years ago and were believed to be common in what is now South Dakota. Triceratops is the state’s officially recognized fossil due to the number of specimens discovered in the northern and eastern Black Hills. The largest triceratops ever found, dubbed “Big John,” was unearthed in Perkins County in 2014.
Following Rush’s report, Theropoda conducted an inspection of the site on Sept. 29, 2018. The company returned in late October to winterize it, covering exposed bones with foil and dirt, tarping the area, and adding several inches of soil over the tarp.
The company returned on June 19, 2019, intending to begin excavation.
“Upon arriving at the site of the triceratops, Theropoda discovered that the site had been ransacked,” the lawsuit alleged. “The soil had been removed; the tarp had been removed; there was a hole where certain excavation had been performed; pieces of foil were strewn about; and fragments of plaster (which is used by those familiar with fossil collection process to protect (‘jacket’) fossil material) were observed.”
Theropoda accused Rush of conversion and breach of contract and filed for recovery of personal property.
Rush denied the allegations. In his counterclaim against Theropoda, he argued the company initially hired his firm for $10,000 a month. The company later sought to renegotiate, paying Rush $5,000 a month to locate T. rex remains. In return for the lower payment, Rush argued the new agreement allowed him to retain fossils belonging to herbivorous dinosaurs.
Besides the triceratops skull, the deal allowed Rush to take the partial skeleton of a duck-billed herbivore, he said.
The $300,000 settlement resolves his claims against Theropoda as well as the company’s claims against Rush.
Theropoda was represented by John Burke of Thomas Braun Bernard & Burke in Rapid City. Rush and Fossil Earth Inc. were initially represented by Gregory Erlandson of Bangs, McCullen, Butler Foye & Simmons, also in Rapid City. Last year, Erlandson withdrew, advising the court “they no longer desired my representation.”
Rush then undertook to defend himself. Earlier this year, a judge fined him $2,000 for missing case deadlines.
