Homo floresiensis

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Controversial Theory: Ancient 'Hobbits' Are Still Alive

Gregory Forth says indigenous accounts indicate Homo floresiensis still hides in Indonesia

(Newser) - A hobbit-like human species has survived for hundreds of thousands of years in the forests of a remote island—and is still surviving. That's the stunning theory of a retired anthropologist, who believes sightings of an "ape-man" on Indonesia's Flores island could signal that so-called hobbit human...

More Real-Life Hobbits Found on Indonesian Island

And they were even older and smaller than we thought

(Newser) - We know hobbits existed . And we know humans may have killed them off . But new fossils discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2014—and announced Wednesday via two papers in Nature—show they were older and smaller than previously believed. Gizmodo reports the remains of the first hobbits—...

Study: Humans May Have Killed Off Real-Life Hobbits

Homo floresiensis disappeared thousands of years earlier than believed

(Newser) - New research suggests it's possible ancient humans are responsible for killing off Indonesia's hobbits (an urge no doubt felt by modern humans who sat through the extended edition of The Hobbit). Starting in 2003 when their remains were first discovered on the island of Flores, scientists believed Homo ...

Study: Hobbits Weren't Humans

Evidence rejects theory on Homo floresiensis

(Newser) - In 2003, researchers discovered fossils on an Indonesian island that looked a lot like little humans —earning them the nickname "hobbits." But the classification of the three-foot-tall Homo floresiensis has sparked debate among experts: Were they really a distinct species, or perhaps just modern-day humans with a...

Island 'Hobbits' Separate Human Species

Separate species may have evolved from homo erectus

(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...

'Hobbit' Fossils Mesmerize Scientists

Number of supporters grow for 'distinct' hominid species theory

(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 earlier,...

'Hobbits' Were Just Short on Food: Scientists

Others say Indonesian remains were dwarfish new species

(Newser) - In a new volley in the back and forth over whether "hobbit" fossils found on an Indonesian island were a separate species, a research team says the remains are those of modern humans suffering from malnutrition-induced dwarfism. Iodine deficiency during pregnancy can result in humans growing less than 3...

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