Not to be confused with Homo Reichiensis
Posted on 02/17/2016 9:02:35 PM PST by Utilizer
Diminutive humans that died out on an Indonesian island some 15,000 years ago were not Homo sapiens but a different species, according to a study published Monday that dives into a fierce anthropological debate.
Fossils of Homo floresiensis--dubbed "the hobbits" due to their tiny stature--were discovered on the island of Flores in 2003.
Controversy has raged ever since as to whether they are an unknown branch of early humans or specimens of modern man deformed by disease.
The new study, based on an analysis of the skull bones, shows once and for all that the pint-sized people were not Homo sapiens, according to the researchers.
Until now, academic studies have pointing in one direction or another--and scientific discourse has sometimes tipped over into acrimony.
One school of thought holds that so-called Flores Man descended from the larger Homo erectus and became smaller over hundreds of generations.
The proposed process for this is called "insular dwarfing"--animals, after migrating across land bridges during periods of low sea level, wind up marooned on islands as oceans rise and their size progressively diminishes if the supply of food declines.
An adult hobbit stood a metre (three feet) tall, and weighed about 25 kilos (55 pounds).
Similarly, Flores Island was also home to a miniature race of extinct, elephant-like creatures called Stegodon.
But other researchers argue that H. floresiensis was in fact a modern human whose tiny size and small brain--no bigger than a grapefruit--was caused by a genetic disorder.
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
Ping!
You might be interested in this, mate. :)
Well, duh.
All they had to do is read The Hobbit.
It tells you right there that hobbits are different than Men.
How dumb do they think we are? Next they will be telling us that dwarves are different from elves like it’s a big news flash..
In Hawaiian mythology, the Menehune are said to be a people, sometimes described as dwarfs in size, who live in the deep forests and hidden valleys of the Hawaiian Islands, far from the eyes of normal humans. Their favorite food is the mai'a (banana), and they also like fish.
The Menehune were said to be superb craftspeople. Legends say that the Menehune built temples (heiau), fishponds, roads, canoes, and houses. Some of these structures that Hawaiian folklore attributed to the Menehune still exist. They are said to have lived in Hawai'i before settlers arrived from Polynesia many centuries ago.
From Menehune
Not to be confused with Homo Reichiensis
Yeah, yeah, we already know about them.
There are places (in Africa) where pygmies are still kept as slaves and/or regarded as “pets.” As recently as the late 20th c, they were even eaten by humans.
Insular dwarfism was never their problem. I wonder if they were genetically closer to Flores Man.
Remember Saumuron teasing his Uruk Hai with some “man flesh” snacks? And Gandalf explains for us that Orcs (Uruk Hai being super charged Orcs) were simply unholy crosses between elves and goblins?
Well, what were wizards then, if not men? Men breeding with elves?
And the Hobbits had to be birddogging either pygmies or Dwarves to achieve their short stature.
This is some real weapons-grade Nurd Dorkery, isn’t it?
“This is some real weapons-grade Nurd Dorkery, isn’t it?”
Word.
The wizards, called the Istari in Quenya, were actually Maiar (a kind of angel) send specifically to Middle-Earth in human form by Eru Iluvatar for the purpose of fighting the servants of Melkor, a.k.a. Morgoth, of which Sauron was chief. There were five Istari, though only two are mentioned by name in the surviving chronicles.
Interestingly, the Balrogs of Morgoth were also Maiar. Consequently, when Gandalf battles the Balrog in Moria, he is going up against a creature fully his equal in rank and power.
Now there's some Nurd Dorkery for you right there.
“The proposed process for this is called ‘insular dwarfing’—animals, after migrating across land bridges during periods of low sea level, wind up marooned on islands as oceans rise and their size progressively diminishes if the supply of food declines...”
The Republican establishment GOPe lives on marooned island of their own as the oceans of the “outsider” rebels rise. The size of the GOPe progressively diminishes as the supply of food declines. They ever, ever so slowly - turn into midgets.
+1
Sorry... THREE of the Istari were mentioned by name, those being Saruman, Gandalf, and Radagast.
i thought that movie was really overrated.
Really? I loved it.
ah, i think i was like 8 lol
Dwarves are ‘different’ from ‘men’ as well, however according to all the tales not only they and humans can interbreed, but (rare/unlikely) dwarves and the elvenkind can interbreed as well.
You really should read the article more closely to see if the reality adjoins the fables in any way, or are we so different from them as from dogs and cats despite physical compositions?
Chimps and humans, anyone? *shudder!!!*
Weren’t the balrogs inferior to dragons? That never made sense to me.
Sounds more than a bit like the ex- I am trying so hard to remain invisible to.
Dynamite indeed comes in very small packages...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.