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Flores island ‘Hobbit’ is new species
WASHINGTON: The tiny skeletal remains
of human “Hobbits” found on an Indonesian island
belonged to a completely new branch of our family tree, a study
has found.
The finds caused a sensation when they were announced to the world
in 2004.
But some researchers argued the bones belonged to a modern human
with a combination of small stature and a brain disorder called
microcephaly.
That claim is rejected by the latest study, which compares the
tiny people with modern microcephalics.
Microcephaly is a rare pathological condition in humans
characterised by a small brain and cognitive impairment.
In the new study, Dean Falk, of Florida State University, and her
international team say the remains are those of a completely
separate human species – Homo floresiensis.
They have published their findings in Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences.
The remains at the centre of the Hobbit controversy were
discovered at Liang Bua, a limestone cave on the Indonesian island
of Flores, in 2003.
Researchers found one near-complete female skeleton, which they
named LB1, along with the remains of at least eight other
individuals.
The specimens were nicknamed Hobbits after the tiny creatures in
JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The researchers believe the 1m-tall (3ft) people evolved from an
unknown small-bodied, small-brained ancestor, which they think
became small in stature to cope with the limited supply of food on
the island.
The little humans are thought to have survived until about 12,000
years ago, when a volcanic eruption devastated the region.
LB1 possessed a brain size of around 400 cubic cm (24 cu inches) –
about the same as that of a chimp.
Long arms, a sloping chin and other primitive features suggested
affinities to ancient human species such as Homo habilis.
Prof Falk’s analysis used the skulls of 10 normal humans, nine
microcephalics, one dwarf and the Hobbit.
The brain leaves a mirror image imprinted onto the skull, from
which anatomists can reconstruct its shape.
The resulting brain cast is called an endocast.
Prof Falk’s team scanned all 21 skulls into a computer and then
created a “virtual endocast” using specialist software.
Then, they used statistical techniques to study shape differences
between the brain casts and to classify them into two different
groups: one microcephalic, the other normal.
The dwarf’s brain fell into the microcephalic category, while the
Hobbit brain fell into the normal group – despite its small size.
In other ways, however, the Hobbit brain is unique, which is
consistent with its attribution to a new species.
Archaeologists had found sophisticated tools and evidence of a
fire near the remains of the 1m-tall adult female.
“People still refused to
believe that someone with that small of a brain could make the
tools,” Prof Falk said.
She added that the Hobbit brain was nothing like that of a
microcephalic and was advanced in a way that is different from
living humans.
A previous study of LB1’s endocast revealed that large parts of
the frontal lobe and other anatomical features were consistent
with higher cognitive processes.
“LB1 has a highly evolved brain,” Prof Falk added.
“It didn’t get bigger, it got rewired and reorganised, and that’s
very interesting.”
This apparently contrasts with LB1’s other “primitive” anatomical
features.
In September last year, Prof Teuku Jacob and colleagues published
a scientific study in Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences which claimed the Hobbit showed similarities to living
pygmies and to microcephalics.
However, a different analysis by Australian researchers, published
last year in the Journal of Human Evolution, supported the idea
that LB1 was a creature new to science. – BBC
 
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