In a remarkable feat of commenter-blogger synergy, the Loom has helped give Darwinius its name back.

As I posted yesterday, some commenters on the Loom pointed out that, amidst all the hullaballoo over the unveiling of this primate fossil (oh, don’t get me started), it looked as if the scientists who wrote the paper failed to follow the rules for naming a new species. The people who make the rules (the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature) require paper copies of a scientific paper, not just a digital one, as was the case of Darwinius.

Today, the executive secretary of the ICZN used the Loom to confirm that, yes, Darwinius was not yet Darwinius.

But at last, it is. Here’s an