A diplomatic stoush between Indonesian and Australian scientists over access to the Hobbit-human's skull could be resolved by the end of the year. The team that discovered the Hobbit wants to analyse DNA from the skull, which could help settle how human the creature actually is.But Australian members of the team that discovered the Hobbit were recently surprised that the skull had been given to someone outside the team.Professor Richard Roberts of the University of Wollongong and one of the Australian scientists involved in the discovery, told ABC Science Online the team thought the skull was being kept safely in a locked drawer at the Indonesian Centre for Archaeology in Jarkarta.But about two weeks ago they discovered Indonesia's premier palaeontologist, Professor Teuku Jacob of Gadjah Mada, was looking after it.Jacob had previously challenged the idea that Hobbits were a new species of human and argued instead they were a sub-species of Homo sapiens."The normal protocol is to seek permission from the centre where the specimen is being kept and make a time to see it on the premises," Roberts said. "A specimen is rarely transported away because it's too delicate."Roberts and team want the skull to carry out further tests including sampling DNA from the teeth, which would help settle the debate over the creature's origins once and for all.
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