[MSN] DENVER (KWGN) - Fossils more than three million years old have been stolen from a lab room at the University of Colorado at Denver. Primate teeth were on loan from African government.

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Fossils stolen from CU research lab
Primate teeth were on loan from African government 

by Laurie Cipriano, News2 

August 14, 2007

DENVER (KWGN) - Fossils more than three million years old have been stolen
from a lab room at the University of Colorado at Denver. One anthropology
professor is desperately trying to find the missing artifacts so he and his
students can continue their research.
 

The missing fossils are primate teeth, valued at $30,000.

"It's just like you lost part of your life," said Assistant Professor
Charles Musiba.

An important piece of Musiba's life's work is missing. He and his students
have been working hard on a research project that relies on fossils to learn
about our evolutionary history.

"They can tell us a little bit more about the climate, by looking at those
teeth we can tell about the dietary behavior of those primates," said
Musiba.

Primate teeth he discovered on a trip to Africa are an integral piece of
that research. Last week, he was looking for the teeth to try to compare
them to another specimen.

"I came to realize that the whole box was missing," said Musiba. " We looked
around. We combed through the entire lab, and didn't find them."

He asked his students if they knew where they were, but no one has seen
them. The fossils were loaned to him from the Tanzanian government.

"So they are not our specimens," said Musiba.

And they must be returned to Africa after the research is complete. Now
professor Musiba is concerned that this will jeopardize his relationship
with the Tanzanian government. "In a sense that the Tanzanian authority will
think twice before they give us anything," said Musiba.

It could also jeopardize his annual trips to Tanzania with students. He only
hopes that someone will return the fossils, since they are only valuable to
the scientific community.

"All these years of hard work and that somebody could just literally,
actually try to ruin that. It is so hard," said Musiba.

Police are investigating, but Musiba says if anyone returns the teeth, no
questions will be asked. He just wants to have the teeth back, so he and his
students can complete their research projects. 
Copyright C 2007, KWGN

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