Monday, October 09, 2006

Our Lady of Flores Redux


A new update on the hobbit controversy Homo Floresiensis: Two Years Out

I dislike the hobbit dwarf label so,as I have said before since predominately female remains have been identified perhaps the species should have been called Our Lady of Flores.(La nostra signora dei fiori).

"We explore the affinities of LB1 using cranial and postcranial metric and non-metric analyses. LB1 is compared to early Homo, two microcephalic humans, a pygmoid excavated from another cave on Flores, H. sapiens (including African pygmies and Andaman Islanders), Australopithecus, and Paranthropus. Based on these comparisons, we conclude that it is unlikely that LB1 is a microcephalic human, and it cannot be attributed to any known species. Its attribution to a new species, Homo floresiensis, is supported."

One subject that is new is the matter of the tools. Martin et al argue that the tools from 18,000 years ago are not like any simple tool linked to Homo erectus. They are more sophisticated, and have only been associated before with Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. The preservation of the tools in the Liang Bua cave, where the fossils were found, suggests to the scientists modern humans coming back again and again to the cave after they arrived on Flores.

But wait for it.....as usual there is contention....Compelling evidence demonstrates that 'Hobbit' fossil does not represent a new species of hominid



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