Was the 'Hobbit' species the result of island shrinkage? // The Hobbit of Flores Island: Body and Soul

[Cidersomerset]

This was a hot topic a few years ago and I just saw this article while looking for info
about the Malaysian plane crash, and decided to see what is new on the Hobbit front.


http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.60.1/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png

Was the 'Hobbit' species the result of island shrinkage?


wKwpbaaeOzs

17 April 2013 Last updated at 00:03 Help Ever since its discovery a decade ago on
the Indonesian island of Flores, scientists have puzzled over the origins of a
diminutive species of human nicknamed "The Hobbit".

But a new study of the creature's remains suggest that it could be a version of the
early human species homo erectus - which arrived on the island, and shrunk.

The process known as "island dwarfing" occurs when an isolated population
becomes smaller bodied through evolution.

Professor Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London explains this new
theory behind the metre-high species.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22169189

======================================================

The Hobbit of Flores Island: Body and Soul

9fvL2PHhx04

Published on 4 May 2012


Dean Falk, Santa Fe Institute
February 22, 2006

Scientists were shocked at the recent discovery of a miniature human species (LB
1, Homo floresiensis) that lived a mere 18,000 years ago on the Indonesian island
of Flores. The most complete specimen is a three-foot tall woman,
nicknamed 'Hobbit,' who had long arms, and a little ape-sized braincase. Associated
archaeological evidence suggests that this tiny species fashioned sophisticated
tools, hunted miniature elephants, made fire, and cooked. How could this be, given
its tiny brain? To glean details about its brain, an international team analyzed three-
dimensional computed tomographic (3DCT) reconstructions of Hobbit's internal
braincase. Their findings have startling implications for the evolution of the brain
and intelligence not just in hobbits, but throughout the human fossil record.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hobbits were related to humans

http://wonderofscience.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Flores-skull-300x276.jpg

http://wonderofscience.com.au/index.php/hobbits-were-related-to-humans/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Human Origins: Hobbits on Flores, Indonesia

AaaQeJ-GUP8

[seeker/reader]

I think that there are other examples of species experiencing a "miniaturization" effect when that species is located or isolated on smaller land masses. If I remember correctly there is currently a "small" rhino on either Papua New Guinea or Sumatra that is on the verge of extinction and maybe fossil evidence of an extinct form of "small/dwarf" elephant on an island somewhere.

So why not hobbits too!

[Cidersomerset]

I think that there are other examples of species experiencing
a "miniaturization" effect when that species is located or isolated on smaller land
masses. If I remember correctly there is currently a "small" rhino on either Papua
New Guinea or Sumatra that is on the verge of extinction and maybe fossil
evidence of an extinct form of "small/dwarf" elephant on an island somewhere.

So why not hobbits too!

Yeah there is another doc on the U'tube link about another possible local legendry
hominoid being real.

the Orang Pendek


c8vSYoMBAMs


Published on 6 Feb 2014


Homo floresiensis ("Flores Man"; nicknamed "hobbit" and "Flo") is an extinct
species in the genus Homo. The remains of an individual that would have stood
about 3 feet (0.91 m) in height were discovered in 2003 on the island of Flores in
Indonesia. Partial skeletons of nine individuals have been recovered, including one
complete cranium (skull). These remains have been the subject of intense research
to determine whether they represent a species distinct from modern humans. This
hominin is remarkable for its small body and brain and for its survival until
relatively recent times (possibly as recently as 12,000 years ago). Recovered
alongside the skeletal remains were stone tools from archaeological horizons
ranging from 94,000 to 13,000 years ago. Some scholars suggest that the historical
H. floresiensis may be connected by folk memory to ebu gogo myths prevalent on
the isle of Flores.

The discoverers (archaeologist Mike Morwood and colleagues) proposed that a
variety of features, both primitive and derived, identify these individuals as
belonging to a new species, H. floresiensis, within the taxonomic tribe of Hominini.
Hominini currently comprises the extant species Homo sapiens (the only living
member of the genus Homo), bonobo (genus Pan), and chimpanzee (genus Pan);
their ancestors; and the extinct lineages of their common ancestor. The discoverers
also proposed that H. floresiensis lived contemporaneously with modern humans on Flores.

Doubts that the remains constitute a new species were soon voiced by the
Indonesian anthropologist Teuku Jacob, who suggested that the skull of LB1 was a
microcephalic modern human. Two studies by paleoneurologist Dean Falk and her
colleagues (2005, 2007) rejected this possibility. Falk et al. (2005) has been
rejected by Martin et al. (2006) and Jacob et al. (2006), but defended by Morwood
(2005) and Argue, Donlon et al. (2006).

Two orthopedic researches published in 2007 reported evidence to support species
status for H. floresiensis. A study of three tokens of carpal (wrist) bones concluded
there were similarities to the carpal bones of a chimpanzee or an early hominin
such as Australopithecus and also differences from the bones of modern humans. A
study of the bones and joints of the arm, shoulder, and lower limbs also concluded
that H. floresiensis was more similar to early humans and apes than modern
humans. In 2009, the publication of a cladistic analysis and a study of comparative
body measurements provided further support for the hypothesis that H. floresiensis
and Homo sapiens are separate species.

Critics of the claim for species status continue to believe that these individuals are
Homo sapiens possessing pathologies of anatomy and physiology. A second
hypothesis in this category is that the individuals were born without a functioning
thyroid, resulting in a type of endemic cretinism (myxoedematous, ME)

Recent survival

The species is thought to have survived on Flores at least until 12,000 years before
present, making it the longest lasting non-modern human, surviving long past the
Neanderthals (H. neanderthalensis), which became extinct about 24,000 years ago.

Local geology suggests that a volcanic eruption on Flores approximately 12,000
years ago was responsible for the demise of H. floresiensis, along with other local
fauna, including the elephant Stegodon. Gregory Forth hypothesized that H.
floresiensis may have survived longer in other parts of Flores to become the source
of the Ebu Gogo stories told among the Nage people of Flores. The Ebu Gogo are
said to have been small, hairy, language-poor cave dwellers on the scale of this
species. Believed to be present at the time of the arrival of the first Portuguese
ships during the 16th century, these creatures are claimed to have existed as
recently as the late 19th century.

Gerd van den Bergh, a paleontologist working with the fossils, reported hearing of
the Ebu Gogo a decade before the fossil discovery. On the island of Sumatra, there
are reports of a 1--1.5 m (3 ft 3 in--4 ft 11 in) tall humanoid, the Orang Pendek
which might be related to H. floresiensis. Henry Gee, senior editor at Nature
magazine, speculates that species like H. floresiensis might still exist in the
unexplored tropical forest of Indonesia.

[ghostrider]

Hobbits ??? it is said that a dwarf race from Andromeda visits here now and then ... some of them , in the past my have chosen to live on our blue marble ... sidebar , their ships are said to be those long energy rods seen around the NASA missions in space ... yep they transform to pure energy when needing to travel the cosmos ...