Customs officers prevented an attempt to illegally send ancient fossils from Ukraine to Taiwan in an international postal shipment, reports the press service of the State Customs Service of Ukraine.

"During the customs inspection of an international postal shipment from Ternopil, customs officials found stones with signs of antiquity and whimsical outlines and suspected that they might have ancient origins. Therefore, the fossils were sent to the National Museum of Natural Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine for examination," the press release said.

According to the report, experts determined that the fossils are slabs of red sandstone from the early Devonian period (geological period of the Paleozoic era) with the armor of "fish" of two species of Protopteraspis, as well as weakly cemented limestone with a whole crab Daira speciose and a red mollusk shell Halyotis sp.

Museum experts also established that these are original fossils found in Podillya, in the basin of the Dniester River. The geological age of three of them is approximately 400 million years, and of the other two, the crab and the mollusk, is 10-20 million years. The discovered fossils are exclusive from the standpoint of paleontology. They have cultural and scientific value as geological heritage.

As noted, according to Ukrainian legislation, permission documents are required for the export of cultural valuables abroad, which were not provided to the customs officers.

"Regarding the individual who sent exclusive paleontological specimens abroad, the Kyiv Customs Office drew up a protocol for violation of customs rules under Article 473 of the Customs Code of Ukraine. The paleontological valuables were confiscated," the statement said.