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Hobbit debate goes out on some limbs
ScienceNews ^ | May 8, 2010 | Bruce Bower

Posted on 04/23/2010 11:21:30 AM PDT by decimon

Two fossil hobbits have given what’s left of their arms and legs to science. That wasn’t enough, though, to quell debate over hobbits’ evolutionary status at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists on April 17.

Since 2004, the discoverers of unusual “hobbit” fossils on the Indonesian island of Flores have attributed their find to a pint-sized species, Homo floresiensis, that lived there from 95,000 to 17,000 years ago. These researchers also suspect, on the basis of hobbit anatomy and recent stone tool discoveries on Flores, that H. floresiensis evolved from a currently unknown hominid species that migrated from Africa to Indonesia more than 1 million years ago.

Critics say the finds represent nothing more than human pygmies like those still living on Flores. In their opinion, the centerpiece hobbit find — a partial skeleton of an adult female known as LB1 — is what’s left of a woman who suffered from a developmental disorder that resulted in an unusually small brain and a misshapen skull and lower body.

But arm and leg fossils from LB1 and a second hobbit appear robust, not unhealthy, according to a new study directed by William Jungers of Stony Brook University in New York. The bones display humanlike thickness in the tough tissue that forms the outer shell of most bones, and opposite sides of the limb bones exhibit comparable thickness, a sign of healthy growth, said Stony Brook anthropologist and study coauthor Frederick Grine, who presented Jungers’ paper at the meeting.

(Excerpt) Read more at sciencenews.org ...


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: dmanisi; flores; godsgravesglyphs; hobbits; homoerectus; homofloresiensis; multiregionalism; origin; origins
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To: Little Bill
Ancient DNA Suggests New Hominid Line

Genetic data unveil a shadowy, previously unknown Stone Age ancestor


21 posted on 04/25/2010 6:38:16 AM PDT by blam
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To: Little Bill; blam

Very interesting discussion, thanks.


22 posted on 04/25/2010 11:33:03 AM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: Little Bill
Ah...here it is:

Oorang Asli

The name "Orang Asli" means "original people" or "first people". They all live on the Peninsular of Malaysia. Nowadays there about 60.000 Orang Asli people, of which 60% still live in the rain forest. About 40% Orang Asli live along or near the coast. Each has its own language and culture, and perceives itself as different from the others. Linguistically, some of the northern Orang Asli groups speak languages, that suggest a historical link with the indigenous peoples in Burma, Thailand and Indo-China. They are classified into three groups:
- Senoi
- Orang Malayu Asli
- Negrito

23 posted on 04/25/2010 1:02:53 PM PDT by blam
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To: blam

They remind me of that supposed lost Tribe they found in the Philippines years ago. Never had contact with civilization, turns out that they were driven into the jungles by the present inhabitants centuries ago. I forget all of the details.


24 posted on 04/26/2010 4:49:46 PM PDT by Little Bill (Carol Che-Porter is a MOONBAT.)
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