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| Tagged: | CommentsThe Flores Hobbit
You may remember the hype and speculation about the “Flores Hobbit”, bones of which were first dug up on the Indonesian Island of Flores in 2003. The scientists found prehistoric remains of what appeared to be a race of really short, really small-brained hominids. They found parts of several skeletons and one reasonably-intact skull.
I won’t repeat the entire story and list of facts here, but I’ll summarize the theories:
- The “hobbit” people were an isolated, late-surviving, dwarfed group of Homo erectus.
- The skull studied was from a homo sapiens individual, with microcephaly.
- They were just a very small group of homo sapiens, dwarfed perhaps by a combination of the island-dwarfing effect, chance genetic drift, and severe nutritional constraints.
Okay, well the main contending theories are the first two, but I am leaning toward No.3. The proponents of No.1 say how much the skull resembles Homo erectus, but I think it could still be normal variations of homo sapiens. There are modern Homo sapiens skulls that could probably pass for neanderthal, and with a small isolated population, homo erectus-like skull shapes might have developed. In addition, some of the existing peoples of the area are very short and have skulls at least somewhat approaching a Homo erectus shape. Locals tell of a former small race of hairy people that interbred with them just generations ago. Is it just legend, perhaps concocted just for the new international attention? Or could it be real?
I’m doubtful too, of the microcephaly theory (No.2). It might explain the skull, but what about the other small skeletons? And a microcephallic individual would have had reduced chance of survival in stone age conditions. Possible, just not terribly likely. But then every once in a while, the unlikely happens.
My second guess would be No.1 (if I had to take a second guess), that they were indeed a dwarfed version of Homo erectus. And they have not turned over every stone in the DNA analysis/comparison of modern humans. They might yet find some anamolies that point to groups that co-evolved, then interbred with modern humans, as has been suggested, by some, with neanderthals.
Only more evidence will complete the picture and reveal the likely reality of what the Flores Hobbit is. Unfortunately, that might be serveral years from now. Until then, we’ll just have to continue guessing.
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