Posted on 10/28/2014 10:53:04 AM PDT by blam
Oct 23, 2014
Bob Yirka
Homo floresiensis adult female - model of head.
(Phys.org) —It's been ten years since the bones of Homo floresiensis, aka, the "hobbit" were uncovered in Liang Bua, a cave, on the island of Flores in Indonesia, and scientists still can't agree on the diminutive hominin's origins. This month, the journal Nature has printed a comment piece by Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London and two pieces by Ewen Callaway, one a retrospective with interviews with the central players, and the other a podcast with the four principle scientists involved in the find—Bert Roberts, Thomas Sutikna, Dean Falk, and Stringer.
Did H. floresiensis descend from Australopithecus, leaving Africa and somehow settling on Flores, or was it a case of an early member of our family tree finding its way to the island and then because of limited resources, evolving into a much smaller size? That's the central question in the debate.
The majority opinion has sided with the island effect, mostly because of the time frame— H. floresiensis existed a mere 13,000 years ago, which means it was alive when other Homo sapiens were about, thus it seemed to make sense that H. floresiensis was also a member that had become stranded on an island. But Stringer doesn't agree. In his commentary piece he notes the chin and jaw are more reminiscent of pre-human fossils, dating back approximately two million years. Also the body shape and tiny brain appear to be more primitive than humans. He says taken together, the evidence suggests a closer match with Australopithecus, a pre-human group living in Africa which also includes the remains of the famous "Lucy"—and which also date back to approximately 1.2 million years ago.
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
GGG Ping.
Tolkien of course...................
he notes the chin and jaw are more reminiscent of pre-human fossils, dating back approximately two million years.
or, perhaps the assumption is false that the fossils to which he is comparing are not “pre-human”, but contemporary to all the other humans, including dear Florence here.
probably didn’t ever exist
We’ll find out in another decade
“Oops sorry about all that”
The authors propose several possible scenarios. For instance, Sima hominins could simply be close relatives of the Denisovans. But that would mean they lived right alongside Neanderthals without having close genetic ties to them.
The Sima hominins could also be a completely independent group that mingled with Denisovans, passing on their mitochondrial DNA, but it would be hard to explain why they also have Neanderthal features.
Another possibility, suggested by anthropologist Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London, is that mitochondrial DNA from the Sima people reached the Denisovans thanks to interspecies sexual adventures among early humans, which introduced the DNA to both the Sima and Denisovans.
In other words, our genetics are mess, because our ancestors slept around, and all of their descendants are bastards.
Everybody likes a family portrait. Nobody wants to get dressed up for it.
As you know I think the out of Africa theory is BS.
I was looking at a Map of the Last Ice Age and wondered who was wandering around that Ice Free area extending from Anatola to China. What else is left to be found?
Didn’t we have some pig’s tooth that developed into a family, culture, kids, clothing, tools, etc?
Ah, yes... Nebraska man.
I remember something like that too. They could have written reams and libraries about a civilization that never existed.
Bttt.
actually they were space aliens who got shipwrecked
bump
I am amazed how at how little some archaeologists need to start extrapolating on entire cultures and lifestyles of ancient people.
Precious Ring
Yeah gholem is now Harry Waxman you didn’t know that blam LOL!
Isolated gene pool and limited resources with selection and drift combining in a modified Homo Erectus that requires less nourishment to survive, seems a good bet.
Well, contestant number 7 does have a flair for fashion.
True. He has shoes and a cozy wrap for evening.
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.