Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

PREMIUM NEWS ARCHIVE

'Hobbit' fossils represent a new species, concludes University of Minnesota anthropologist.

Article from: NewsRx Health & Science Article date: January 4, 2009

University of Minnesota anthropology professor Kieran McNulty (along with colleague Karen Baab of Stony Brook University in New York) has made an important contribution toward solving one of the greatest paleoanthropological mysteries in recent history -- that fossilized skeletons resembling a mythical "hobbit" creature represent an entirely new species in humanity's evolutionary chain.

Discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2003, controversy has surrounded the fossilized hominid skeletons of the so-called "hobbit ...

Read full article   (with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research)
Newser gathers stories from across the web and packs what you need to know into about 120 words. Check out these stories related to your search.
Visit our grid for the latest news.

Related Newser Stories

 'Hobbit' 
 Fossils 
 Mesmerize 
 Scientists 



Number of supporters grow for 'distinct' hominid species theory

Apr 28, 09 7:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - Six years after their discovery on an Indonesian island, fossils of 3-foot-tall people creatures nicknamed "hobbits" continue to captivate researchers, reports the New York Times. So far, they haven't been clearly linked to other known human fossils. They may be descendants of Homo erectus who migrated from Africa... More »

MORE ABOUT:
fossil • hominids • Homo erectus • hobbits • Flores • Homo floresiensis

Skull Find Shakes Up Theories on Early Humanity

Remains found in Georgia suggest mankind's evolution had Eurasian chapter

Sep 9, 09 6:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - Theories of human evolution have been thrown into disarray by ancient human remains found in Georgia, the Independent reports. The skulls, unearthed near Tbilisi, are from 1.8 million years ago, 800,000 years before modern humanity's ancestors were believed to have first moved out of Africa. The find, scientists... More »

MORE ABOUT:
origins of humanity • Georgia • skull • human evolution • homo sapiens • hominids • Homo erectus

 Island 'Hobbits'  
 Separate Human Species 

Separate species may have evolved from homo erectus

May 7, 09 12:23 PM CDT
(Newser) - Two new reports forward the theory that the tiny people who roamed an Indonesian island 8,000 years ago were a separate species of human, the BBC reports, not just pygmy versions of homo sapiens. The biggest clue is the feet of the “hobbits,” which are distinctly primitive... More »

MORE ABOUT:
evolution • Indonesia • homo sapien • Homo erectus • skeleton • hobbits • Homo floresiensis

 Meet 
 the First 
 European 


Forensic artist reconstructs face of first modern human found in Europe

May 5, 09 3:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - Meet the first modern European. His face—or hers, as researchers have been unable to determine the sex—was reconstructed by a forensic artist based on a partial skull and jawbone discovered in a Romanian cave. The facial features linked to the 35,000-year-old bones recall the continent's immediate African... More »

MORE ABOUT:
evolution • BBC • fossil • homo sapien • bone • anthropology • Homo habilis • Homo erectus • Neanderthals • Romania • caves • cavemen • ice age