A University of Alberta paleontologist is lending his expertise after authorities in the U.S. took a 70-million-year-old dinosaur into custody.

Phil Currie was called in after a skeleton of the Tarbosaurus, a cousin to the Tyrannosaurus, was seized after being sold for over a million dollars in an auction.

University of Alberta paleontologist, who was called in to verify the skeleton, says fossils have been disappearing from the area and are now showing up on the private market. (CBC News)

American federal officials think the bones were smuggled into the country illegally from Mongolia.

Currie was one of a group of experts who went to New York to verify the skeleton’s identity.

“The four of us went over the specimen and very quickly established that there wasn’t much question that it is Tarbasaurus and it does come from Mongolia,” he said.

Mongolia is claiming ownership of the fossil, which they say was found over 65 years ago.

Curries says it’s a common problem to see fossils disappearing from the area.

"Its been a bit of a mystery as to where these things have been going. We know there are many skeletons that have been taken out of the ground in Mongolia,” he said.

“They are disappearing into these private preparation facilities somewhere but they aren't showing up in the private market until now."

The skeleton will be held in custody until legal proceedings have determined its final outcome.

Currie says he may be called to testify in the case.