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July 25, 2008 7:45:35 AM CDT

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'Hobbits' Were, Indeed, a Different Kind of Human

Posted Sep 21, 07 1:30 PM CDT in Science & Health 

(Newser) – A new study of three wrist bones from an 18,000-year-old fossil shows that the so-called hobbits of Indonesia were, indeed, a separate human species. When the bones were discovered in 2003, scientists trumpeted the find as evidence of a smaller species, Homo floresiensis. But skeptics argued that the hobbit, at 3 feet tall with a brain the size of a grapefruit, was in fact a human afflicted by microcephaly, a brain-shrinking disorder.

Smithsonian researchers writing in the journal Science confirmed that the wrist bones were like those of an ape's, indicating a species far older than homo sapiens. They speculate that the hobbit may have left Africa before the emergence of homo sapiens' direct ancestor, homo erectus.

Source Daily Telegraph (UK)

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An artist's impression of the "Hobbits" of Indonesia. Using 3D technology a team of scientists were able to demonstrate the difference between the wrist bones recovered from Homo floresiensis and those...   (getty images)
The skull of Homo floresiensis, nicknamed "hobbits" by anthropologists.   (Rainer Zenz; Wikimedia Commons)
Scientists believe this skull is from a 30-year-old female who lived about 18,000 years ago on the Indonesian island of Flores. The species is called Homo floresiensis, or Flores Man. Today in the journal...   (KRT Photos)
The skull of Homo floresiensis, left, compared to that of a modern human being.   (getty images)
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The Mystery Of The Human Hobbit 4/5   (countmedwell (YouTube))

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Indonesia  • archaeology  • fossil  • human evolution  • anthropology  • skeleton  • hobbits  • Homo erectus  • homo sapien


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