Posted on 04/17/2013 10:34:45 PM PDT by blam
The Real 'Hobbit' Had Larger Brain Than Thought
Charles Choi, LiveScience Contributor
Date: 16 April 2013 Time: 07:01 PM ET
The hobbit, Homo floresiensis, lived on the island of Flores some 18,000 years ago, and now researchers have more evidence (its relatively large brain) the diminutive creature was a unique human species.
The brain of the extinct "hobbit" was bigger than often thought, researchers say.
These findings add to evidence that the hobbit was a unique species of humans after all, not a deformed modern human, scientists added.
The 18,000-year-old fossils of the extinct type of human officially known as Homo floresiensis were first discovered on the remote Indonesian island of Flores in 2003. Its squat, 3-foot-tall (1 meter) build led to the hobbit nickname. [Image Gallery: A Real-Life Hobbit]
Scientists had suggested the hobbit was a unique branch of the human lineage Homo. It may have descended from Homo erectus, the earliest undisputed ancestor of modern humans, or an even more primitive extinct species of human, Homo habilis, which had a more apelike skeleton. However, other researchers have argued it was unlikely another species of human lasted so close to the present day, and that the hobbit was really a modern human with microcephaly, a condition that leads to an abnormally small head, a small body and some mental retardation.
Big brains?
One method that may help solve the mystery of the hobbit's status involves comparing the size of its brain with the size of its body. Scientists could then make similar comparisons with modern and extinct human groups and note the hobbit's differences from the groups. However, the actual size of the hobbit's brain was unclear — past estimates for its size ranged from 380 to 430 cubic centimeters (23 to 26 cubic inches), inviting confusing answers
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(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
GGG Ping.
Just when the experts figure they know it all, along comes the clockmaker.
Now THAT’S funny right there!!
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| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
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Thanks blam. |
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Of course; they were a conservative race, after all. ;)
Is it another species or just a very small homo sapiens?
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