Study Claims Hobbits a Distinct Species
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A study of skeletal remains of 9 miniature people with unusually small heads found in a cave on the island of Flores in 2004 has led a team of scientists conducted by Matthew Tocheri to conclude that the ‘Hobbits’, as they’ve been dubbed, are a distinct species and not a diseased modern human, as they’ve been claimed.
Skull cast of Hobbits Human floresiensi. Photo PA
Matthew Tocheri told Science magazine that the wrist bones look nothing like that of Homo sapiens, but ape-like. Critics disputed their analysis, saying this was not clear evidence for the existence of a separate species, known as Homo floresiensis. Teuku Jacob — an Indonesian palaeoanthropologist — argued that the remains are likely those of a pygmy with a brain defect known as microcephaly.
The study by Tocheri, from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, reveals that the wrist bones of the Hobbits are primitive and shaped differently from bones of modern humans and the Neanderthals.
Their wrists lack the modernization seen in both these human species — a wrist that distributes forces away from the base of the thumb and across the wrist for better shock-absorbing abilities. The trapezoid bone connected to the index finger was wedge-shaped, not boot-shaped, as those of modern humans.
Tocheri and his colleagues said the distinct species emerged from ancestors “that migrated out of Africa before the evolution of the shared, derived wrist morphology.”
A comparison of the Hobbit’s wrist bones scaled to the same size as the chimpanzee’s and a modern human’s. The colors trace the jointed and
non-jointed surfaces. Bottom – Bone positions in a modern human.
“What was very clear from my perspective looking at the Hobbit’s wrist bones is that it does not belong in the group that includes modern humans and Neanderthals. It basically has the same type of wrist that we see in [the ancient hominid] Homo habilis, that we see in Australopithecus (the famous ‘Lucy’ fossil) and that we see in living chimps and gorillas today.” Matthew Tocheri told BBC News.
The 18,000 year old bones of the Hobbit were discovered on the island of Flores, in a limestone cave at a site called Liang Bua. One near complete skeleton of a female was found, which was designated LB1, as well as remains of at 8 eight more individuals.
The scientists believe these 3 foot (1 meter) tall, small brained people evolved a short physique to cope with limited supply of food on the island.
Successive study of LB1′s brain case and tools found with the bone fossils also sustain the standpoint that H. floresiensis was a species distinct from modern humans.
But Professor Robert B. Eckhardt, of developmental genetics at Pennsylvania State University, disputes the new research. He said the wrist study appeared “to be an exercise in the presentation of misleading ideas in an obfuscatory manner.”
He notes that there was “a lot of variation in the form of wrist bones.” Some variations, he said, are normal and others occur “as the result of various pathologies, such as from injuries or from anomalies of development.”
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fascinating Deborah !!!!
amazing that they adapted to their surroundings…..
Lord of the Rings ……eat your heart out….
I read The Hobbit…….when I was younger and I was convinced that they were real….now this proves it haha
Sci-fi fantasy is my fave for books to read Kim, and Tolkien was THE one that started it all. Years ago I used to play Dungeons and Dragons with a group of friends, all based on middle-earth. Some gamers were almost like a cult unto themselves, but we didn’t get into it like that … strictly for fun. My character was an elf
I find this stuff absolutely fascinating but we only have a tiny piece of the jigsaw puzzle as yet. Maybe these ‘hobbits’ are relations to the legendary ‘little people’ of Ireland (The Firbolgs). In that case maybe they are related to me – the tall gene did not grace my Irish side, nor me
That’s true Sue. Sometimes studies can be one-sided so as to be misleading. There are those that oppose Matthew Tocheri’s findings, but there will always be ones who do with many stidues. Who’s right?
Haha, I always took you to be tall for some reason, Sue
This is an interesting blog. I´m here for the second time and find every day new interesting details.
Thanks Pips, glad you enjoy it
I bet there not the cute little hobbits from lotr.
Heh – great if there were really little hairy footed ones existing!