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Tom Kapitany

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Tom Kapitany
Tom Kapitany standing next to a large fluorite octahedron specimen on matrix from inner Mongolia.
Born
Tamas Kapitany

(1960-12-15) 15 December 1960 (age 65)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
EducationUniversity of Melbourne
(BSc)
OccupationsGeologist, teacher, botanist, entrepreneur, consultant, curator
Websitetomkapitany.com crystalworldaustralia.com

Tom Kapitany (born 15 December 1960) is an Australian botanist, geologist, international consultant, dealer, collector and lecturer in geosciences, and entrepreneur. Kapitany is the director of Crystal World Exhibition Centre in Victoria, Australia,[1] National Dinosaur Museum in Canberra, Australia,[2] Collectors Corner[3] Garden World in Braeside, Victoria, Australia, Australian Mineral Mines Pty. Ltd. and National History Museum Pty Ltd. He is an international consultant in geosciences, as well as a professional paleontologist.

Kapitany is known for raising awareness on the importance of collecting and fossicking minerals and fossils; to educate people and children on fossils and rocks of biological origin.[4][5] However, as Australia's largest commercial dealer of minerals and fossils, he is a controversial figure owing to revelations of his involvement with international fossil smuggling.[6][7]

Career

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Crystal World

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Tom Kapitany started Crystal World Exhibition Centre in 1999 following his involvement with the family business' retail nursery Collectors Corner. Kapitany would frequently travel the world to source natural history specimens[8]Through Crystal World, Kapitany has hosted fundraising activities to help the Australian Animal Rescue charity.[9]

Crystal World & Prehistoric Journeys exhibition centre.

In February 2019, Kapitany and Australian Animal Rescue rescued Rosie the Shark, a preserved great white shark facing vandalism at the abandoned wildlife park Wildlife Wonderland[10] and was rehoused at Crystal World in Devon Meadows. The shark was originally preserved in formaldehyde which caused major disruptions to its relocation due to the toxic nature of the chemical.[11]

In 2013 Kapitany purchased a small piece of the Chelyabinsk meteorite roughly the size of an Australian 20 cent coin.[12]

Tom Kapitany was noted for his significance in bringing heteromorph fossil specimens of Blackdown formation in Queensland to international recognition in the geological catalog Heteromorph by Wolfgang Grulke.[13]

In 2003, Kapitany donated a collection of minerals and fossils valued at more than A$200,000 to Museum Victoria through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.[14][15]

In 2024, the newly described Permian fossil sea star species Ambigaster kapitanyi was named for Tom Kapitany, who collected the asteroid specimens and donated them to the Western Australian Museum.[16]

National Dinosaur Museum

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Tom Kapitany is one of five directors of the National Dinosaur Museum in Canberra, Australia.[17]

Television

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In 2002, ABC Catalyst interviewed Kapitany on the topic of fossil protection within Australia; saying that "we shouldn't condemn the whole fossil community based on a few rogue collectors. Nor should we condemn the scientific community on a few rogue scientists."[5] He appeared as himself in Opal Hunters: Red Dirt Road Trip Season 2, Episode 6 ("Queen of Gems"), which features JC and Rod joining him on-site in Broken Hill to mine giant almandine garnets.[18]He also appeared in Outback Crystal Hunters Season 2, Episode 3 ("Heart of Darwin Glass"), where he is featured leading an expedition as a crystal expert.[19]He also appeared in Stuff The British Stole Season 3, Episode 5 ("Fire Star Rock"), where he is interviewed about the Fire Star Rock.[20]

Publications

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Honours and recognition

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In 1984, Kapitany received the Rod Tallis Memorial Youth Award from the Australian Region of the International Plant Propagators' Society (IPPS).[21]

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Around 2005, the Australian Federal Police raided Kapitany's collection located near Melbourne seizing over 600 kilograms (1,300 lb) of Chinese and Argentinian fossils, which were later repatriated to their home countries.[7] In 2006, Kapitany was fined $US20,000 and sentenced to a year on probation after pleading guilty to illegally smuggling fossil dinosaur eggs from China to the US. Kapitany had been reportedly smuggling dinosaur eggs out of China since 1999 by mislabelling them as minerals, according to prosecutors.[6]

References

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  1. ↑ "Crystal World Exhibition Centre Australia: Wholesale Crystals for Sale". www.crystalworld.com.au. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  2. ↑ "About Us". National Dinosaur Museum. Retrieved 24 March 2026.
  3. ↑ "Cacti Succulents Bonsai Orchids Bromeliads Airplants Hoyas Terrariums". Cacti Succulents Bonsai Orchids Bromeliads Airplants Hoyas Terrariums. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  4. ↑ "2015 Newsletter Archive (includes "A Brief Tour of Deep Time Geology with Tom Kapitany")". Mineralogical Society of Western Australia. Retrieved 24 March 2026.
  5. 1 2 "Catalyst: Fossil Trade". ABC Story Archive - The Fossil Trade. 2002. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Melbourne man admits smuggling dinosaur eggs". The Age. 16 March 2006. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  7. 1 2 Wainwright, Robert (11 August 2007). "Fossil collectors, and police, walk on eggshells". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  8. ↑ "About Us". Crystal World. Retrieved 24 March 2026.
  9. ↑ "Saint Nick gives reindeer the flick". www.heraldsun.com.au. 17 December 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  10. ↑ "Great White Shark abandoned at wildlife park: New plans for preserved shark". www.news.com.au. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  11. ↑ "Battle to save preserved Great White Shark at abandoned wildlife park". www.9news.com.au. 18 February 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  12. ↑ "Meteorite lands in Devon Meadows | Cranbourne Star News". Cranbourne Star News. 18 April 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  13. ↑ Grulke, Wolfgang (2014). Heteromorph. International: At One Communications. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-9929740-1-5.
  14. ↑ Museum Victoria Annual Report 2002–2003 (PDF) (Report). Museum Victoria. 2003. p. 52.
  15. ↑ "Bottom of the sea delivers tax breaks". Australian Financial Review. 31 May 2007.
  16. ↑ Gale, Andrew S.; McNamara, Kenneth J. (2024). "Permian asteroids (Echinodermata) from Australia" (PDF). Irish Journal of Earth Sciences. 42: 309–335. doi:10.1353/IJES.2024.A935036.
  17. ↑ "About Us". National Dinosaur Museum. Retrieved 24 March 2026.
  18. ↑ "Opal Hunters: Red Dirt Road Trip – Season 2 Episode 6 "Queen of Gems"". 9Now. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
  19. ↑ "Outback Crystal Hunters – Season 2 Episode 3 "Heart of Darwin Glass"". 7plus. Retrieved 24 March 2026.
  20. ↑ "Stuff The British Stole – Season 3 Episode 5: Fire Star Rock". ABC iview. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
  21. ↑ Report from the International Office – 2018 Activities (PDF) (Report). International Plant Propagators' Society. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
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