#20881: — 04/03  at  10:48 AM
Truly sad. Unfortunately this appears to be on the way to becoming a case study in international intellectual property and property rights.

#20884: — 04/03  at  11:45 AM
This is outright repulsive.

#20890: — 04/03  at  12:33 PM
This is not right. Although, Tim White is right it sounds like at least part of the damage occured because of inexperience dealing with such fragile material.

#20897: — 04/03  at  02:04 PM
DISGUSTING.

On the bright side, there may be more where that skull came from...

#20903: — 04/03  at  03:12 PM
Myers wrote:"we really don't need fighting between scientists"

Of course we do. Science after all procceeds through controversy. It just should not take this form.

#20906: PZ Myers — 04/03  at  03:52 PM
True. We need fighting over ideas--but one thing we shouldn't do is trample over the evidence while we're arguing.

#20907: coturnix — 04/03  at  03:55 PM
Fights between scientists should be on paper (and online), in scientific papers and books and on science blogs, not in physical tug-of-wars with fragile priceless specimens. This is really sad.

#20923: — 04/03  at  09:49 PM
The damage done to the fossils may be the reason why Jakob was so renuent to return them. At least, they were returned. Ethics should be compulsory in science curricula.

#20925: Blogtopus — 04/03  at  10:55 PM
Has anyone here had any experience with making rubber molds of old bones? I'm curious as to how difficult it is, how damaging it can be if done improperly. The reason I ask is to see where Jakob's fault lies: As someone who has no experience with making molds and thought he could do it, or someone who does have experience, knew what he was doing and what would happen, but just didn't give a damn?

#20935: mattH — 04/04  at  01:30 AM
Dammit. What the hell is wrong with the idiots? You'd think they were amature fossil hunters or pot hunters.

#20937: — 04/04  at  03:49 AM
Sad story. Who is the legal owner of the fossil? Has Indonesia a right to claim them? We may be lucky that no one feels he is a direct descendants of Homo floresiensis, because he could have a claim on the finding. Contemporary Flores Islanders practice a very peculiar religion, may they claim the bones as part of their religious heritage?