Hobbit, Homo floresiensis - The prehistoric Dwarf

[Tiger]

Hear about that mini-man that used to live along with humans?? It was shy and lived along with the humans, and were like hobbits, kind of. And they died out, but the people still have legends.....

I read it in TIME magazine, so it's not a crazy myth.

Any one know about the extinct dwarf-man??

-"Tiger"

[Melly]

Well this mysterious man was the Flores Man. Here is an interesting article

www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/10/27/national1210EDT0540.DTL

[Peter]

Yes, that was interesing news. Nobody could imagine that another HUMAN species lived so long! This hobbit-sized creature appears to have lived as recently as 18,000 years ago on the island of Flores, a kind of tropical Lost World populated by giant lizards and miniature elephants.

Here a great website on this species:
www.nature.com/news/specials/flores/index.html

[Magoo]

Don't say nobody, I'm not surprised by it, I'm happy for it bit it isn't a surprise if you ask me, we may be good at killing things off but it was on an island cut off from the world so it would have taken longer for people to get there to kill them.

[Melly]

Here is the latest news about the Flores Man:

Isle's 'Hobbits' had advanced brains

Alexandra Witze
Dallas Morning News
Mar. 4, 2005 12:00 AM

DALLAS - Frodo and Bilbo may have met their intellectual match in the prehistoric Hobbits from Indonesia.

New research shows that the tiny humans, nicknamed Hobbits, who once inhabited the Indonesian island of Flores, had relatively advanced brains capable of higher levels of thinking and cognition. The finding meshes with archaeological studies of these long-vanished people, who apparently had mastered tool-making and hunting tens of thousands of years ago.

Dean Falk, an anthropologist at Florida State University, led an international team of researchers that described a hobbit's unique braincase in today's online edition of the journal Science. advertisement




"I thought we were going to see a little chimpanzeelike brain, and I was wrong," she said. "I'm bowled over."

Archaeologists have unearthed the bones of eight hobbits, formally known as Homo floresiensis, but only one skull. Falk CAT-scanned that fragile, 18,000-year-old skull, then created a clear resin copy that she could study.

"In life, pulsating brains leave impressions within the braincase," Falk said during a news conference sponsored by the National Geographic Society.

Although just one-third the size of the average modern human brain, the hobbit brain turned out to have several features that could indicate higher thinking skills, she said.

For instance, the brain had enlarged temporal lobes, an area that is bigger in humans and helps with functions such as memory and emotion. Another area, Brodmann's area 10, was bigger than expected; in humans, this region is involved in undertaking initiatives and planning actions.

The Hobbit skull didn't resemble similar casts taken from skulls of modern humans, pygmies, gorillas, chimpanzees, or other ancient human species, Falk said. Together, the brain features strengthen the case that Homo floresiensis is its own unique species.

That challenge, along with other controversies, has swirled around the hobbit fossils ever since they were publicly revealed last fall. In the latest twist, the researchers who excavated the bones have finally gotten them back from another scientist who "borrowed" them without a clearly understood agreement.

After being dug up, the bones had stayed in Jakarta under the care of Tony Djubiantono, director of the Center for Archaeology there. But another scientist at the center loaned the bones to Teuku Jacob, a paleoanthropologist in Yogyakarta. Other members of the original team complained.

Last week, Jacob returned all but three leg bones, said Michael Morwood, one of the original researchers. On Thursday, Morwood called the condition of the returned bones "appalling," saying that many critical details had been destroyed during transport.

www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0304hobbit04.html

[Peter]

That is interesting to read! So indeed a unique species of human!

[aspenparkland]

Hi,

There's also a yet to be described species from Sardinia, that's bigger than us.

C. F. Spoor and Sondar, P. Y. , 1986. Human Fossils from the Endemic Island Fauna of Sardinia. Journal of Human Evolution 15, 399-408

ttyl,

Kevin

[Magoo]

Do you have any info on this larger species?

[aspenparkland]

Hi,

There's very little on the Sardinian fossils, the only other article I've seen is The Island Sweepstakes from Natural History, (Sept. 86)

E-mail me at [e-mail] and I'll send you the URL

BTW- there's lots of reconstructions of Medditerain Island animals in the article.

ttyl,

Kevin

[Magoo]

That was a cool article, thanks

[Peter]

Here an PDF-article on the Hobbit, Homo floresiensis:
www.bu.edu/av/core/csf/Archaeology_and_age_of_a_new_hominin.pdf.

M.J. Morwood, R.P. Soejono, R.G. Roberts, G.D. van den Bergh et. al.: "Archaeology and age of a new hominin from Flores in eastern Indonesia", Nature, Vol. 431, 28 okt. 2004, p. 1087 - 1091

Summary:
Excavations at Liang Bua, a large limestone cave on the island of Flores in eastern Indonesia, have yielded evidence for a population of tiny hominins, sufficiently distinct anatomically to be assigned to a new species, Homo floresiensis. The finds comprise the cranial and some post-cranial remains of one individual, as well as a premolar from another individual in older deposits. Here we describe their context, implications and the remaining archaeological uncertainties. Dating by radiocarbon (14C), luminescence, uranium-series and electron spin resonance (ESR) methods indicates that H. floresiensis existed from before 38,000 years ago (kyr) until at least 18 kyr. Associated deposits contain stone artefacts and animal remains, including Komodo dragon and an endemic, dwarfed species of Stegodon. H. floresiensis originated from an early dispersal of Homo erectus (including specimens referred to as Homo ergaster and Homo georgicus) that reached Flores, and then survived on this island refuge until relatively recently. It overlapped significantly in time with Homo sapiens in the region, but we do not know if or how the two species interacted.

[exile]

Truly Amazing!
Who would have thought that there would ever be a dwarf species of human.

[Peter]

Bone of Hobbit-like species uncovered

Tuesday, October 11, 2005 Posted: 2012 GMT (0412 HKT)

(AP) -- Scientists say they have found more bones in an Indonesian cave that offer additional evidence of a second human species -- short and hobbit-like -- that roamed the Earth the same time as modern man.

But the vocal scientific minority that has challenged that conclusion since the discovery of Homo floresiensis was announced last year remains unconvinced.

The discovery of a jaw bone, to be reported in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, represents the ninth individual belonging to a group believed to have lived as recently as 12,000 years ago. The bones are in a wet cave on the island of Flores in the eastern limb of the Indonesian archipelago, near Australia.

In 2004, scientists announced their original, sensational discovery of a delicate skull and partial skeleton of a female, nicknamed "Hobbit" and believed to be 18,000 years old. In addition, they found separate bones and fragments of other individuals ranging in age from 12,000 to 95,000 years old.

The findings have ignited a controversy unlike any other in the often-contentious study of human origins.

The tiny bones have enchanted many anthropologists who accept the interpretation that these diminutive skeletons belonged to a remnant population of prehistoric humans that were marooned on Flores with dwarf elephants and other miniaturized animals, giving the discovery a kind of fairy tale quality.

If true, the discovery grafts a strange and tangled evolutionary branch near the very top of the human family tree.

The conventional view of human evolution is that several types of primitive ape-like ancestors appeared and faded over a span of about 4.5 million years. Modern Homo sapiens developed about 100,000 years ago, and quickly overtook other large-brained competitors like Homo erectus and Neanderthals. Modern humans were thought to have roamed the Earth without competition for at least the past 30,000 years.

Fully grown, Homo floresiensis would have stood about 3 feet tall, with a brain about the size of a chimpanzee.

Its discoverers, led by Australian anthropologist Michael Morwood of the University of New England, speculate it evolved from Homo erectus, which had spread from Africa across Asia. They attribute its small size to its isolation on an island.

However, the researchers acknowledge that the Hobbit shares a bizarre and unexplained mixture of modern and primitive traits. For example, its long, dangling arms were thought to have belonged only to much older prehuman species that were confined to Africa.

A vocal scientific minority insists the Hobbit specimens do not represent a new species at all. They believe the specimens are nothing more than the bones of modern humans that suffered from microencephaly, a broadly defined genetic disorder that results in small brain size and other defects.

And, at least two groups of opponents have submitted their own studies to other leading scientific journals refuting the Flores work.

"This paper doesn't clinch it. I feel strongly that people are glossing over the problems with this interpretation," said Robert Martin, a biological anthropologist and provost of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

Those caught in the middle of the debate say it is a real test of what we know about human evolution.

Daniel E. Lieberman of the Peabody Museum at Harvard said the specimens are so unusual that they deserve a more detailed analysis in order to adequately answer the critics' complaints.

"Many syndromes can cause microencephaly and dwarfism and they all need to be considered," said Lieberman, who wrote a commentary in Nature. "The findings are not only astonishing, but also exciting because of the questions they raise."

In the latest Nature study, the same team of Australian and Indonesian scientists working in Liang Bua cave on Flores report finding a variety of additional bones buried at various depths.

Among them, bones from the right arm of the previously discovered 18,000-year old female. They labeled her LB1.

And, they report finding the lower jaw bone that does not belong to any of the previously discovered individuals. An analysis of firepit charcoal found nearby in the excavation layer suggests the jawbone is 15,000 years old. It suggests a weaker chin with smaller tooth dimensions than LB1, but otherwise shares the same characteristics.

"They almost certainly belong to the same species," Lieberman concluded.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.
edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/10/11/hobbit.jaw.ap/index.html

[Peter]

OCTOBER 13, 2005
New Fossils of Homo floresiensis

Additional fossils attributed to Homo floresiensis have been described. These fossils provided more evidence for an endemic species of small bodied Homo on Flores.


Additional information:

The new fossils are described in the following article:
Morwood, M. J. et al. (2005). Further evidence for small-bodied hominins from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia. Nature 437: 1012-1017.


Additional information:

See also: Nature News
www.nature.com/news/2005/051010/full/437934a.html

National Geographic News
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/10/1012_051012_hobbits.html

National Geographic News
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/03/0303_050303_tv_hobbit.html

Source: www.becominghuman.org/

[Peter]

Related thread: ''Hobbit'' joins human family tree.

[Melanie]

Debate over ancient ‘hobbit’ escalates
New species or shrunken skull? Both sides get their say in Science

The surprising discovery of bones heralded as a new, hobbitlike human species may turn out to have simply been the remains of a human suffering from a genetic illness that causes the body and brain to shrink, according to researchers challenging the original report.

The bones were discovered in 2003 on the Indonesian island of Flores and caused a stir in the scientific community when researchers declared they represented a new dwarf species which they named Homo floresiensis.

Because of its tiny stature, the hominid was quickly dubbed the “Hobbit,” from the creature in the books by J.R.R. Tolkien.


Some scientists questioned whether it was really a new species, however, and Robert D. Martin of the Field Museum in Chicago and co-authors challenge the original classification in a technical comment appearing in Friday’s issue of the journal Science.

They say that, instead, it appears to be a modern human suffering from microencephaly, a genetic disorder that results in small brain size and other defects. Other researchers also have proposed this explanation.

Martin argues that the brain of the specimen, known as LB1, is far too small to merely be a dwarf species. Its brain size of 400 cubic centimeters would indicate a creature only a foot tall, one-third the size of the actual skeleton.

In addition, sophisticated stone tools have been found at the site, he reports, of a type only associated with modern humans, which could have reached the island by the time LB1 lived about 18,000 years ago.

And they contended that evidence to rule out a microencephalic was flawed because the original researchers compared LB1 to the brain of a juvenile microencephalic, not an adult.


Click for related story
Virtual reality maps real-life ‘hobbit’ brain



In a response to their paper, researchers led by Dean Falk of Florida State University called Martin’s assertions “unsubstantiated.” Martin’s comparison of LB1 with the skulls of microcephalics lacks crucial details, Falk stated.

Falk also challenged Martin’s comment that such a small brain size would indicate an extremely tiny creature based on the calculations for dwarf versions of other animals. It would be surprising if the dwarf version of an early human scaled down in the same way as an elephant, for example, Falk responded.

Falk and his co-authors argued that the size of LB1’s brain is not consistent with that of adult microencephalics.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

msnbc.msn.com/id/12857145/

[Bowhead Whale]

WOW! What a great discovery! Thanks for bringing it here, Tiger!

[savertim]

Anyone think that this "dwarf" could have been the source of the dwarves of ancient lore?

[sordes]

No, because they occured only on this little island many thousand years ago. The dwarf in the folklore are much more a result of occuring genetic deffects which lead to dwarfism.

[another specialist]

Hobbit or not? Species debate flares up
Skeptics say Indonesian remains came from ‘abnormal’ pygmies

Skeletal remains said to be that of a new "hobbit" species in 2004 do not represent a new species, as then claimed, but some of the ancestors of modern human pygmies who live on the island today, according to an international scientific team.

The remains were found in a cave on the island of Flores, Indonesia. The researchers say those remains show signs of microcephaly, a condition in which the head and brain are much smaller than average for the person's age and gender.

"Our work documents the real dimensions of human variation here," says Dr. Robert B. Eckhardt, professor of developmental genetics and evolutionary morphology at Penn State.

The skeleton, dubbed LB1, "looks different if researchers think in terms of European characteristics because it samples a population that is not European, but Australomelanesian, and further because it is a developmentally abnormal individual, being microcephalic," Eckhardt said.

The new analysis, done by several researchers, argues that claims of a new species — "Homo floresiensis," commonly called hobbits — are incorrect.

The results were published Monday in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Those proposing a separate species had claimed that early human ancestors, Homo erectus, traveled to the island about 840,000 years ago and evolved into Homo floresiensis, based on the discovery of stone tools on the island. This claim assumed that there was no subsequent human migration to the island until after Homo floresiensis died out about 15,000 years ago.

In the newly published paper, the researchers contend that this is false, because pygmy elephants arrived on the island at least two separate times, and during periods of low sea levels Flores was isolated from other islands by only a few miles. Repeated influxes by later humans were not only possible, but likely, they argue

Debate over ancient ‘hobbit’ escalates


For LB1'S cranium, face, dentition, skeleton, they find that many of the key features previously said to be diagnostic of a new species still are present in the Rampasasa pygmies on the island today, along with evidence for growth abnormalities.

"To establish a new species, paleoanthropologists are required to document a unique complex of normal traits not found in any other species," Eckhardt said in a statement. "But this was not done. The normal traits of LB1 were not unique, and its unusually small braincase was not normal."

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14457876/from/RS.2/