圣地亚哥，9月25日——智利海关当局周五表示，该国海关官员在一个来自马达加斯加的集装箱中查获了200多件菊石化石。该集装箱申报内容为民用装饰品。
SANTIAGO, Sept 25 - Customs officials in Chile discovered and seized more than 200 fossils of ammonites in a shipping container from Madagascar that had been declared as containing household ornaments, the customs authority of the South American country said on Friday.
菊石是与章鱼和鱿鱼亲缘关系密切的软体动物，在白垩纪-古近纪灭绝事件中灭绝。这是一次大规模灭绝事件，约6600万年前消灭了所有非鸟类恐龙。
Ammonites are mollusks closely related to octopuses and squids that became extinct during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, a major mass extinction that wiped out all of the non-avian dinosaurs around 66 million years ago.
智利国家海关总局称，这些被查获的菊石化石距今约1.1亿年，是在一个从中国运来的集装箱货物中发现的，该集装箱声称装有链条、吊坠和玻璃家居装饰品。
The seized ammonites, which date back around 110 million years, were found among the cargo of a container shipped from China supposedly carrying chains, pendants, and glass household ornaments, Chile's National Customs Directorate said.
该机构在声明中表示：“海关发现的受保护物种装在纸箱中，用来自马达加斯加的报纸和杂志包裹着。”
The "protected species discovered by Customs arrived in cardboard boxes, wrapped in newspapers and magazines from Madagascar," the agency said in a statement.
智利圣安东尼奥自然历史博物馆的专家确认这些物品是真正的化石。
Specialists from the San Antonio Museum of Natural History in Chile confirmed that the items were genuine fossils.
智利海关当局表示，目前正在等待马达加斯加政府对已发出的查询的回复，以确认化石的来源，并确定该非洲国家是否会正式要求归还这些化石。
Chile's customs authority said it is waiting for a response to an inquiry sent to the government of Madagascar to confirm the fossils' origin and determine whether the African country will formally request their repatriation.