SHANGHAI, May 13 (AP) -- A Canadian man is on trial in Shanghai on charges of illegally smuggling dinosaur fossils overseas, the Shanghai prosecutor's office said Friday.

Pascal Barre's trial was held Thursday and a verdict is expected within one month, said Wu Yaohong, a spokesman for prosecutors who handle cases involving foreigners.

Wu said Barre was arrested along with his Chinese wife, Wei Muhong, after Chinese customs officers in November seized eight dinosaur fossils that the couple had allegedly attempted to mail to the United States.

Wu gave no details of the trial or the specific charges against Barre, and it wasn't clear what penalties the couple might face.

The Shanghai Daily newspaper said Barre blamed the smuggling on Wei, claiming he had no knowledge of her dealings with fossil traffickers. Wei is expected to go on trial after giving birth this month, newspaper reports said.

A spokeswoman for the Canadian Consulate said diplomats had met with Barre several times, but had no other details on the case.

While prosecutors said it is illegal to ship such fossils overseas, Barre's lawyer was quoted as saying that it wasn't clear whether the fossils were even protected under China's antiquities laws.

"There is no clear legal interpretation spelling out that ancient animal fossils are antiquities," Xu Qing was quoted as saying by the newspaper China Daily.

Reports said authorities began an investigation after receiving a tip-off that dealers were shipping fossils to Shanghai. Barre and Wei were identified after police observed them visiting an antique shop used by a gang trafficking in fossils.

Shanghai Daily said the couple purchased 38 small and two large fossils for 40,000 yuan (US$4,839; €3,808). They posted pictures of eight of the fossils on the Internet and shipped them after receiving payment of US$2,090 (€1,645) from an American buyer identified only as David, Beijing Daily said.

The reports identified the fossils as those of adult keichousaurus, a small marine dinosaur that lived in ancient China during the Triassic period, roughly 245-208 million years ago.

China Daily said the couple began selling fossils on the Internet two years ago. Authorities identified five regular customers in Britain and the United States, but don't plan to take legal action against them, the report said.

It wasn't clear how much the couple had earned from their business. China Daily said Wei was found to have several bank accounts containing more than 150,000 yuan (US$18,000; €14,000), almost all of which was confiscated by the court.