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Post by Alpha Hooligan on May 6, 2009 20:27:12 GMT
No. Not those hobbits, these ones... Scientists have found more evidence that the Indonesian "Hobbit" skeletons belong to a new species of human - and not modern pygmies. The 3ft (one metre) tall, 30kg (65lbs) humans roamed the Indonesian island of Flores, perhaps up to 8,000 years ago. Since the discovery, researchers have argued vehemently as to the identity of these diminutive people. Two papers in the journal Nature now support the idea they were an entirely new species of human. The team, which discovered the tiny remains in Liang Bua cave on Flores, contends that the population belongs to the species Homo floresiensis - separate from our own grouping Homo sapiens . They argue that the "Hobbits" are descended from a prehistoric species of human - perhaps Homo erectus - which reached island South-East Asia more than a million years ago. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8036396.stmHomo floresiensis en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_floresiensisCool. I wonder how many other undiscovered "cousins" we have out there...I'm still hoping that they will find biblical giants/titans one day. AH
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Post by Liberator on May 6, 2009 21:19:08 GMT
There has been some discussion about whether they might have split at Homo Habilis or Homo Erectus level (what a great name for a gay club!). The difference is anything up to a million years I think but I can't remember details. If I find it, I'll fill a New Scientist link in later. More than just the timing though, it makes a difference as to just what is assumed to have come out of Africa and when. The earlier one as good as mean several lines of parallel 'human' development that may have interbred while the later one means one line that is already much more recognisable 'human' before it splits between Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal and Floriensis. www.newscientist.com/article/dn17081-bigfoot-hobbit-could-be-ancient-island-human.html Bigfoot hobbit could be ancient island human * 18:00 06 May 2009 by Ewen Callaway * For similar stories, visit the Evolution and Human Evolution Topic Guides The tale of Homo floresiensis – aka the hobbit – is beginning to read less like a Tolkien epic than an Agatha Christie whodunit. Two studies add a new twist to the plot. One claims that the skeleton's ape-like feet push back its ancestry near the dawn of Homo. Another argues that the hobbit is a later offshoot of Homo erectus, dwarfed by aeons of island isolation. "Either answer is pretty damn exciting," says William Jungers, a palaeoanthropologist at Stony Brook University in New York, who led the analysis of the foot. "It's telling us something pretty amazing about human evolution." Hobbit skeleton
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Post by ♫anna♫ on May 11, 2009 5:43:12 GMT
Ya gotta believe!
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Post by Big Lin on May 21, 2009 15:48:58 GMT
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