Hobbit (H. floresiensis) the new hominids

Loricat · Graduate Student Joined: 03 Mar 2005 Posts: 446 Gender:

I just picked up a copy of the latest
National Geographic because it has the story of "Hobbit", the skeleton found in Indonesia of the new human cousin. The article linked to at NG is truncated of course ("hey freeloaders, go buy the magazine!" Makes me angry. Show me the whole article, and I'll read it, and maybe become loyal to your publication!) This
BBC article is, I believe, the first one I read about it months ago.

What do you folks think?

Lori

"All beings are the owners of their deeds, the heirs to their deeds."

Mr. Pessimistic

This stuff is great! THe article was from 2004, has there been any updates on this find? DID they find DNA?

The brain size is small at under 400cc, so whether they made the tools found with them could be up for debate...and the stories of some kind of language? hmmm

I would love more info on this, if anything else has come of this find.

I wish they would not call it Hobbit...for that makes it seem like fantasy.

Mr. P.

The one thing of which I am positive is that there is much of which to be negative - Mr. P.

The pain in hell has two sides. The kind you can touch with your hand; the kind you can feel in your heart...Scorsese's "Mean Streets"

I came to kick ass and chew Bubble Gum...and I am all out of Bubble Gum - They Live, Roddy Piper

Edited by: misterpessimistic at: 4/14/05 1:24 pm

Mr. Pessimistic · Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 1:29 pm Post subject: March 2005

The brain of H. Floriensis

Mr. P.

The one thing of which I am positive is that there is much of which to be negative - Mr. P.

The pain in hell has two sides. The kind you can touch with your hand; the kind you can feel in your heart...Scorsese's "Mean Streets"

I came to kick ass and chew Bubble Gum...and I am all out of Bubble Gum - They Live, Roddy Piper

marti1900 · Senior Joined: 14 Mar 2005 Posts: 354 Gender:

Regarding tool use, and without bothering to look it up, being the creature of sloth that I am, I seem to recall that there have been documented instances of tool use by apes. Not a very sophisticated use, but still considered tools and use.

So I think it could be possible this little brain person could have made and used primitive tools. But language? That's pretty far-fetched.

Isn't it interesting how new discoveries of ancient hominid types pop up from time to time, pushing the human development start back farther and farther in time.

Marti in Mexico

Loricat · Graduate Student Joined: 03 Mar 2005 Posts: 446 Gender:

Ah folks, more info:

...tools were found with the bones, quite sophisticated ones. (see the article linked below)

...these new hominins are not pushing back the timeline on modern humans, they co-existed, scientists believe, with early modern humans, although they're not sure the two met. These remains have been dated at around 18,000 years ago. This article has some info, especially about the concept of 'island dwarfism' [btw -- do a google search on that phrase, half of the articles that come up are trying to refute the idea as a failure of Darwinism] which is the real concept that large animals on an island, where there is less food and fewer predators will evolve smaller than their mainland counterparts (small animals, like rats and lizards, will grow larger).

Lori

"All beings are the owners of their deeds, the heirs to their deeds."

tarav

I saw a program and/or read about the Hobbit remains. It made me wonder if many of the so-called fantasies that have circulated for years might actually have some basis. Perhaps fairies or something like them once existed! Maybe the descriptions of Big Foot and Loch Ness are based on some animal that actually existed at one time. I have heard such theories before, but remained very skeptical. Oral tradition can keep information alive for a long time. Of course information passed that way is often embellished and distorted, yet any basis of truth to these stories would be amazing.

marti1900 · Senior Joined: 14 Mar 2005 Posts: 354 Gender:

Interesting twist, tarav. Maybe not fairies (because of the flying thing) but how about gnomes? And dwarfs with special abilities that abound in myths and legends. Today's fairytale could be yesteryear's early hominid sighting.

Marti in Mexico


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