Prehistoric dwarf astounds scientists / Island discovery could rewrite human evolution

Deseret News ^ | October 28, 2004 | Joseph B. Verrengia

[ZULU]

"His grapefruit-sized brain was two-thirds smaller than ours and closer to the brains of today's chimpanzees and transitional prehuman species in Africa that vanished 2 million years ago."

Either a leprechaun or a Proto-Democrat. I tend to believe the latter. They have advanced in body size, but their mental capabilities have actually shrunk.

[bobsatwork]

" As an engineer, I am compelled to ask: why? ....As another engineer - BINGO! Why does this ONE find mean anything? Now, show me a lot of them, and , maybe remnants of teeny little villages, and I'll think they are onto something. Until then, HUMBUG.

[ZULU]

Island evolution can produce ginat or dwarfed forms of normal sized species.

Perhaps this is a mutated form of Homo erectus, evolved in an island environment.

[asformeandformyhouse]

"Short people got no reason,
short people got no reason,
short people got no reason to live".

[Kenton]

[MineralMan]

"As an engineer, I am compelled to ask: why? Why would this not be evidence simply of a deformed, physically stunted prehistoric woman? I mean, if you look around, I am sure you have seen or are aware of people like these, such as dwarves used in circuses. "

Actually, no. Dwarves and other small people do not have small heads.

[TYVets]

In an astonishing discovery that could rewrite the history of human evolution, ...

More hype from the public school crowd.

I am waiting until they find the original Monolith.

[Dataman]

...astounds...rewrite...smashes....

Just because the theory is false doesn't mean it isn't true.

[Publius6961]

Just in my lifetime, I have seen a series of "discoveries" blunders and outright incompetence that makes it clear to me that anthropology is a science not unlike palmistry where "large returns of conjecture from such small investment in fact" rules. Remember African Eve?

Learning and writing about anything can be interesting and educational so long as the authors do not adopt the posture that they are at the end of the learning curve and everything that can be discovered has been discovered.

One would think that "re-writing history" every generation might give them a clue.

[Dataman]

(1) It could just be a case of dwarfism - one skeleton doesn't tell us all that much.

Exactly. For every unearthed diseased skull, an entire race is assumed.

[TYVets]

You have a plan ?

[7.62 x 51mm]

I like Kerry's non-plan, actually.

http://www.asjewelers.com/FRstuff/7/I_have_a_plan.wmv

[Inyo-Mono]

There are pygmies in Africa - it doesn't seem that a nation of pygmies in Indonesia that all died are particularly shocking.

If you were to go back in time and see one of these creatures running through the woods, I'm sure that you would be shocked. These were no mere human pygmies, but small apelike looking sub-humans.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

Why does this ONE find mean anything? Now, show me a lot of them, and , maybe remnants of teeny little villages, and I'll think they are onto something. Until then, HUMBUG.

I'm with you. There's sufficient overlap in any species to account for variations in size. I'd also like to see the jawbones and dentition of this specimen.

[R. Scott]

It’s not unusual for a species isolated on an island to evolve into a smaller species with some different characteristics than their predecessors. Haven’t pigmy elephants been found in similar circumstances?

[aimhigh]

This isn't an example of evolution, but of devolution.

[AD from SpringBay]

In an astonishing discovery that could rewrite the history of human evolution...

Not again!?

[valkyrieanne]

Why would she be a different species?

Because there were six other partial skeletons found, all with the same proportions. Also, there have been stories of the "Ebu Gogo" in the area for a long time, and not just on Flores. The Wall Street Journal had an article today about explorations that will be done on Sulawesi as well (another Indonesian island.) Seven specimens is actually pretty good for being able to claim a separate species, but if more are found on other islands, that will about clinch it.

Then there are the distinct features of the head, pelvis, shinbone, and teeth. If what these paleontologists are reporting is true, it does NOT sound like our own species.

[valkyrieanne]

Perhaps this is a mutated form of Homo erectus, evolved in an island environment.

That's the general point of what I've been reading.

[DouglasKC]

Bones of fish, birds and rodents found near the skeleton were charred, suggesting they were cooked.

Or burned in a forest fire..which happens all the time. It's a pretty big leap to attribute a bunch of human characteristics based upon such scant evidence.