Posted on 11/19/2009 5:39:35 AM PST by Pharmboy
Homo floresiensis not diseased sub-population of healthy humans Researchers from Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York have confirmed that Homo floresiensis is a genuine ancient human species and not a descendant of healthy humans dwarfed by disease. Using statistical analysis on skeletal remains of a well-preserved female specimen, researchers determined the "hobbit" to be a distinct species and not a genetically flawed version of modern humans. Details of the study appear in the December issue of Significance, the magazine of the Royal Statistical Society, published by Wiley-Blackwell.
In 2003 Australian and Indonesian scientists discovered small-bodied, small-brained, hominin (human-like) fossils on the remote island of Flores in the Indonesian archipelago. This discovery of a new human species called Homo floresiensis has spawned much debate with some researchers claiming that the small creatures are really modern humans whose tiny head and brain are the result of a medical condition called microcephaly.
Researchers William Jungers, Ph.D., and Karen Baab, Ph.D. studied the skeletal remains of a female (LB1), nicknamed "Little Lady of Flores" or "Flo" to confirm the evolutionary path of the hobbit species. The specimen was remarkably complete and included skull, jaw, arms, legs, hands, and feet that provided researchers with integrated information from an individual fossil.
The cranial capacity of LB1 was just over 400 cm, making it more similar to the brains of a chimpanzee or bipedal "ape-men" of East and South Africa. The skull and jawbone features are much more primitive looking than any normal modern human. Statistical analysis of skull shapes show modern humans cluster together in one group, microcephalic humans in another and the hobbit along with ancient hominins in a third.
Due to the relative completeness of fossil remains for LB1, the scientists were able to reconstruct a reliable body design that was unlike any modern human. The thigh bone and shin bone of LB1 are much shorter than modern humans including Central African pygmies, South African KhoeSan (formerly known as 'bushmen") and "negrito" pygmies from the Andaman Islands and the Philippines. Some researchers speculate this could represent an evolutionary reversal correlated with "island dwarfing." "It is difficult to believe an evolutionary change would lead to less economical movement," said Dr. Jungers. "It makes little sense that this species re-evolved shorter thighs and legs because long hind limbs improve bipedal walking. We suspect that these are primitive retentions instead."
Further analysis of the remains using a regression equation developed by Dr. Jungers indicates that LB1 was approximately 106 cm tall (3 feet, 6 inches)—far smaller than the modern pygmies whose adults grow to less than 150 cm (4 feet, 11 inches). A scatterplot depicts LB1 far outside the range of Southeast Asian and African pygmies in both absolute height and body mass indices. "Attempts to dismiss the hobbits as pathological people have failed repeatedly because the medical diagnoses of dwarfing syndromes and microcephaly bear no resemblance to the unique anatomy of Homo floresiensis," noted Dr. Baab.
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This study is published in Significance. Media wishing to receive a PDF of this article may contact physicalsciencenews@wiley.com
Full Citation: "The geometry of hobbits: Homo floresiensis and human evolution." William Jungers and Karen Baab. Significance; Published Online: November 19, 2009 (DOI: 10.1111/j.1740-9713.2009.00389.x); Print Issue Date: December 2009.
Significance, published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Royal Statistical Society, is a quarterly magazine for anyone interested in statistics and the analysis and interpretation of data. Its aim is to communicate and demonstrate in an entertaining, thought-provoking and non-technical way the practical use of statistics in all walks of life and to show informatively and authoritatively how statistics benefit society. Significance can be accessed online at: www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/significance
The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is the UK's only professional and learned society devoted to the interests of statistics and statisticians. It is also one of the most influential and prestigious statistical societies in the world. The Society has an international membership, and is active in a wide range of areas both directly and indirectly pertaining to the study and application of statistics. For more information, please visit www.rss.org.uk or contact Andrew Garratt, RSS Press & Public Affairs Officer on +44 20 7614 3920 or a.garratt@rss.org.uk.
Wiley-Blackwell is the international scientific, technical, medical and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons, with strengths in every major academic and professional field and partnerships with many of the world's leading societies. Wiley-Blackwell publishes nearly 1,500 peer-reviewed journals and 1,500+ new books annually in print and online, as well as databases, major reference works and laboratory protocols. For more information, please visit www.wileyblackwell.com or www.interscience.wiley.com.
Little people(?) ping...
Still too big for the curio, I think.
“with some researchers claiming that the small creatures are really modern humans whose tiny head and brain are the result”
more monkey business?
Factoid: It has also surfaced that to settle differences among the tribes, young Hobbits took to wrastling. Thus, an industry emerged that would entertain legions down through the centuries, and is still going strong today in certain corners of society.
Maybe all humans weren't Out Of Africa?
Sure would like to see some DNA from these folks.
Maybe some people went to Africa?
I'm impressed that the 'Hobbits' survived the near-by Toba explosion (near extinction) event 74,000 years ago.
That theory has been bouncing around for a few years now. Some think there were parallel developments in China and possiby europe.
VERRRRRRRRY INTERESTING!
Thanks much for the link...
Human Ancestors Went Out Of Africa And Then Came Back... [1998]
You mean the Lord of the Rings was history?
I think some of the Nephilim matings that Genesis talks about met with some stunted offspring as well as giants....
LOTR was actually a documentary. I saw it first on the National Geographic Channel.
“Factoid: It has also surfaced that to settle differences among the tribes, young Hobbits took to wrastling. Thus, an industry emerged that would entertain legions down through the centuries, and is still going strong today in certain corners of society.”
They went extinct because after a hard day of hunting, Neanderthals used to relax by seeing how far they could toss them.
Amazing stuff. Just goes to show how LITTLE we know of history. BOTH sides claiming the facts are on their side are to be laughed at. Fossils are amazingly rare compared to the amount of life over millions/billions of years of existence. Don’t let fields of ferns fossils fool you(figurative) into thinking fossils are common.
Statistical Analysis on what? Answer:
Statistical analysis of skull shapes show modern humans cluster together in one group, microcephalic humans in another and the hobbit along with ancient hominins in a third.
Of Bone shapes. That is how they came up with that it is a another species. Not DNA testing not proof of interbreeding problems. I.E. Speculation.
So, are Pygmy’s now a seperate species as well? An how about the tall tribe?
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