tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post2986465640613724467..comments2024-03-22T21:58:18.933+00:00Comments on ShukerNature: FLORES HOBBITS AND THE GIANT STORK OF DOOMAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15628598508836601012noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-8048004361474726172018-10-15T18:59:25.374+01:002018-10-15T18:59:25.374+01:00"Fact", "not a fact"; perhaps ..."Fact", "not a fact"; perhaps it's good the page text doesn't mention a legend of Flores which fascinates me. Flores natives say little people also inhabited the island until, around 300 years ago, they stole a baby from the big people. The big people attacked, driving them into the very caves where the Homo floriensis skull was discovered. Could Homo floriensis have survived until so recent a time? (It's around the time white people discovered the island.) I don't think it terribly unlikely, although I don't want to be too certain. Could some still survive? Less likely, I think, but again, I don't want to be too certain. Ethan Gardenerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04477704222423568933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-20496514552978956472014-05-01T15:33:02.730+01:002014-05-01T15:33:02.730+01:00Dr. Meijer, I would like to take small issue with ...Dr. Meijer, I would like to take small issue with something you wrote above:<br /><br />"The presence of extinct giant "storks of doom" that hunted after hobbits is not a fact."<br /><br />I certainly understand your point that we have no evidence that these giant storks hunted "hobbits," However it is not necessarily true to say that it is "not a fact." We simply do not know whether it is a fact or not. It may indeed be a fact. Whether something is a fact is not contingent upon our knowing it to be a fact. Absence of proof is not proof of absence.<br /><br />In the spirit of having fun, we sometimes make conjectural leaps that are not supported by current evidence. In the spirit of attempting to prove one's superiority or greater fidelity to the scientific method, some people state certain things to be "not a fact," which itself is engaging in conjecture of another form.Leary Gonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02938970092928591056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-38434587225042753832014-04-10T21:43:21.851+01:002014-04-10T21:43:21.851+01:00Dear Dr Meijer, Thanks for your message, but I hav...Dear Dr Meijer, Thanks for your message, but I have indeed stuck to the evidence regarding the giant stork of Flores - as you yourself have noted in your message concerning what I have written here: "You are careful to state that there is no evidence whatsoever for such activities [i.e. hunting hobbits]". I am indeed careful to state that. Equally, however, in your newspaper interview, you were quoted as adding: "But can not be excluded either [i.e. storks hunting hobbits cannot be excluded either]". So I have merely looked at both possibilities here, just like you did, but without favouring either of them. Best wishes, Dr Karl ShukerDr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-80925023821993728812014-04-10T13:51:23.816+01:002014-04-10T13:51:23.816+01:00Dear Dr. Shuker, As the author of the above-mentio...Dear Dr. Shuker, As the author of the above-mentioned paper, I am pleased to see that my work on the extinct giant storks from Flores still garners attention. However, as scientists, we are careful to stick to the facts, and only the facts. The presence of extinct giant "storks of doom" that hunted after hobbits is not a fact. Although you are careful to state that there is no evidence whatsoever for such activities, you seem to favour an overly dramatic interpretation over the dry facts. I understand, it is easy to get carried away into a world of fantasy when being confronted with examples of insular evolution, but I would suggest you stick to the evidence in your future writing about this topic. Hanneke Meijerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18341107569660073283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-3481992683947054072014-01-04T12:52:32.491+00:002014-01-04T12:52:32.491+00:00What a world it was in which our diminutive cousin...What a world it was in which our diminutive cousins lived! Reminiscent of the myth of the war between cranes and pygmies. I hadn't previously known of this Flores marabou stork, but those at my local zoo look pretty formidable. If they were nearly twice my height, I'd be a wary little hobbit!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05990564432778690216noreply@blogger.com