Posted on 10/27/2004 11:28:18 AM PDT by Truth666
The remains of a tiny and hitherto unknown species of human that lived as recently as 13,000 years ago have been discovered on an Indonesian island.
The discovery has been heralded as the most important palaeoanthropological find for 50 years, and has radically altered the accepted picture of human evolution.
The female skeleton, known as LB1 - or by the nickname "Ebu" - has been assigned to a new species within the genus Homo - Homo floresiensis. Examination of the remains shows members of the species stood just 1 metre tall and had a brain no bigger than a grapefruit.
A handful of stone tools from the same period were also found in the caves, along with the bones and teeth of several dwarf stegodons, an ancestor of the modern elephant.
Instead of following a simple evolutionary path culminating in modern humans - Homo sapiens - the discovery of LB1 suggests early humans branched into many more forms than previously thought - some of which survived until very recently. The find also shows that small-brained humans could evolve without losing much of their intelligence.
"It is literally jaw-dropping," says Bernard Wood, an anthropologist at George Washington University in Washington DC, US. "The implications for the evolution of the [human] brain are among the most interesting."
"It raises the whole issue of what it is to be human, or a member of the genus Homo," adds Chris Stringer at the Natural History Museum in London, UK. "And shows how little we really know about human evolution."
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
Lord Howe Island - evolution and ice age theories crosschecked
It looks just like Donna Shalala!
had a brain no bigger than a grapefruit.
A kerry suppoter then.
Living specimens can be found in Hollywood.
bump for future read
Voted Democrat?
wow
Crevo ping. If anyone has a Hobbit ping list, this might go there too.
"...and had a brain no bigger than a grapefruit."
Democrats haven't evolved much, have they?
Tom Daschl?
Evolution...for those who haven't figured it out...occurred. In the real world...only the strong survive...and this particular human group didn't make it. Life goes on.
Ah, you beat me!
This has very little to do with human evolution as this find is 13000 years ago and archaic human sapiens have been found dating to 100,000 years ago if you accept naturalistic philosophy.
"had a brain no bigger than a grapefruit"
John Kerry?
So it's an either/or thing? Cool. Glad I'm a Human, and not a Homo...
Wha chu talkin' 'bout, Truth?
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