: I'm sorry, I didn't notice this comment, or else I would have replied here first without making the compromise in the article. If you wish to re-revert to the original version pending the resolution of any discussion here, then feel free. 
 : I take your point about "acceptance by the scientific community", but I don't think that is the strict definition of confirmation. I would argue that the 2005 paper did confirm the findings of the original proposal in that it was a "corroborative statement or piece of evidence".  Of course, the waters were muddied by further analysis, but to say the 2005 paper did not confirm the original findings is somewhat misleading, I feel. I have no agenda to promote the species argument over the microcephaly argument, I just think - as you do - that it could be more elegantly written. I have made a compromise in stating the 2005 paper "supported" the original proposal (thereby avoiding the contested "confirmation" completely). What do you think? e