AK-Dave
Muse
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2003
- Messages
- 586
Some additional information about the "Hobbit" skeletons discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2004 has been published. See this post at the Panda's Thumb for details: http://pandasthumb.org/archives/2010/03/new-hobbit-findings.html
It now appears that the evidence supports the theory that they are indeed a seperate species, evolved from an early Homo species. While reading about this, I got to thinking about what would happen if an isolated group were discovered living in some remote corner of Indonesia (they may have lived on Flores as recently as 12,000 years ago). Would it be ethical to capture some and place them in a zoo? Would they be entitled to the rights we generally reserve for humans or would they be considered animals similar to the existing non-human primates like the great apes?
Does this belong here or in Social Issues & Current Events?
It now appears that the evidence supports the theory that they are indeed a seperate species, evolved from an early Homo species. While reading about this, I got to thinking about what would happen if an isolated group were discovered living in some remote corner of Indonesia (they may have lived on Flores as recently as 12,000 years ago). Would it be ethical to capture some and place them in a zoo? Would they be entitled to the rights we generally reserve for humans or would they be considered animals similar to the existing non-human primates like the great apes?
Does this belong here or in Social Issues & Current Events?