NationStates Jolt Archive

The tiny skeletal remains of human "Hobbits" found on an Indonesian island belong 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 [...].

In the new study, Dean Falk, of Florida State University, and her colleagues say the remains are those of a completely separate human species: Homo floresiensis.


Article here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6311619.stm).

Wouldn't it be weird if they'd still been around today? Two species of humans...

The fact that multiple scientists keep revising their conclusions is leaving me a bit skeptical. But this is very interesting!

Interesting.

I last read that they were thinking it was a disease.

I wonder how long before they will if ever make the a branch.

People still argue over the Neanderthals.....

Hey, kewl, if there were halflings there may be elves, and elven chicks are HOT! :D

Morlocks!

pretty cool. although i seem to remember it was speculated that they would probably be fairly stupid by our standards owing to the significantly smaller size of their brains in proportion to their bodies... or something.

pretty cool. although i seem to remember it was speculated that they would probably be fairly stupid by our standards owing to the significantly smaller size of their brains in proportion to their bodies... or something.

I dunno about that. There are lots of really stoopid people in our own species! Heh!

filfy hobbitses!

So there really WAS a Middle Earth!:p

So there really WAS a Middle Earth!:p

In Indonesia, though... not in New Zealand. ;)

this is clear proof that tall guys are more evolved/less prone to volcanic eruptions on there property




:p

Article here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6311619.stm).

Wouldn't it be weird if they'd still been around today? Two species of humans...

Yeah, it would be weird.

Morlocks!


BLOR BLOR BLOR BLOR WARBLE *stab*


Interesting though, but I figured they would be a species, even if scientists couldn't. Mainly because I draw my own conclusions based on the most interesting outcome.

This has been discussed on NS before. I thought the DNA evidence didnt support the seperate species. There were several articles posted here on NS when this first came out.

It is really difficult to base your ideas about a species based upon one specimen. There have been humans much smaller than 3 feet who functioned well enough.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucia_Zarate

It may or may not be an entirely different species, but it is certainly possible. There have been several other evolutionary dead ends and this could just be another cousin that didn’t make it.

H. florensis, if it really is a distinct species (I haven't done the appropriate research so I'll refrain from making a statement), isn't a different species of human. It'd just be a different species of homonid. Like H. erectus, H. habilis, etc. As far as I'm aware, there have only ever been two species (really subspecies) of human: H. sapiens sapiens (us) and H. sapiens idaltu (our immediate precursor, apparently).

I apologize for making a big deal out of what seems like a minor technicality, but it's an important distinction to make: whether something is the same species as us or not.

Old.

Article here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6311619.stm).

Wouldn't it be weird if they'd still been around today? Two species of humans...

I'd like it.

Interspecies conflicts are always so much better than Intraspecies conflict. It's not fun when the species fights itself. It's always so much more fun when the species fights another. Of course, fighting isn't good at all, but if this species is AT ALL related to humanity, they're going to want a fight.

pretty cool. although i seem to remember it was speculated that they would probably be fairly stupid by our standards owing to the significantly smaller size of their brains in proportion to their bodies... or something.

Er... no. Brain size is no indication of intelligence. For instance, Chinese, in general, have a smaller brain size than Europeans. However, they have been shown to be just as intelligent.

Relative brain size is vastly more important, as well as brain structure, or how complex the brain structure is.

And, they have very complex brain structures(Some speculate even more complex than ours), as well as an roughly the same relative brain size.

Bah, good ol' Anthro 100's classes for ya.

The fact that multiple scientists keep revising their conclusions is leaving me a bit skeptical. But this is very interesting!

Why would revising conclusions based on new evidence make you more skeptical? That's the advantage that the Scientific Method brings. Not revising one's conclusions in the face of new evidence would seem to be more a cause for skepticism to me...

Second species? More like thousandth.

Second species? More like thousandth.

Oh? What are some other species then?

People still argue over the Neanderthals.....

Why? Everyone knows at least some are still around. I believe one of them answers to "Dubya."

:p

Dammit they found my experiment on humans thousands of years to create the LOTR world, just hope they do not find my orcs.;)

Oh? What are some other species then?

*clears throat*

Homo habilis
Homo rudolfensis
Homo ergaster
Homo erectus
Homo antecessor
Homo heidelbergensis
Homo neanderthalensis
Homo rhodesiensis
Homo cepranensis
Homo georgicus
Homo sapiens idaltu

*clears throat*

Homo habilis
Homo rudolfensis
Homo ergaster
Homo erectus
Homo antecessor
Homo heidelbergensis
Homo neanderthalensis
Homo rhodesiensis
Homo cepranensis
Homo georgicus
Homo sapiens idaltuCorrect, yet in the overall hope of debate it should be noted some skeltal examples of these species are debated to belong to a different one listed, so at make that species the part of one of the other ones, or that they belong to an entirely new species.

H. florensis, if it really is a distinct species (I haven't done the appropriate research so I'll refrain from making a statement), isn't a different species of human. It'd just be a different species of homonid. Like H. erectus, H. habilis, etc. As far as I'm aware, there have only ever been two species (really subspecies) of human: H. sapiens sapiens (us) and H. sapiens idaltu (our immediate precursor, apparently).

I apologize for making a big deal out of what seems like a minor technicality, but it's an important distinction to make: whether something is the same species as us or not.

you wouldn't call erectus and ergaster and pals human? why not?

you wouldn't call erectus and ergaster and pals human? why not?

They're HUMAN, but not modern human.

*clears throat*

Homo habilis
Homo rudolfensis
Homo ergaster
Homo erectus
Homo antecessor
Homo heidelbergensis
Homo neanderthalensis
Homo rhodesiensis
Homo cepranensis
Homo georgicus
Homo sapiens idaltu

I thought "human" meant "Homo Sapien"

I won't really argue it though, I just thought you were going to claim that black people were a different species or something.

Second species? More like thousandth.

more than two but not a thousand Hominini, that would mean a new species approximately every 4,000 yrs; more likely a couple of dozen...

more than two but not a thousand Hominini, that would mean a new species approximately every 4,000 yrs; more likely a couple of dozen...

If you include subspecies, it might hit 100...

If you include subspecies, it might hit 100...possible, at the moment I think it's between 10 and 20(I could be wrong)it will take a very long time to reach a hundred, possibly never...

Article here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6311619.stm).

Wouldn't it be weird if they'd still been around today? Two species of humans...

There was homo neanderthalis and lots of other homos (:D ) out there, I dont think this is the second. And humans are homo sapiens so they would be like humanoid species?

There was homo neanderthalis and lots of other homos (:D ) out there, I dont think this is the second. And humans are homo sapiens so they would be like humanoid species?

Homininae subfamily- Hominini (humans and their ancestors)-Panini (chimps), and Gorillini (gorillas).

a Hominin is a creature that is human or a human ancestor.. all of the Homo species -Homo sapiens, H. ergaster, H. rudolfensis...the Australopithecines -Australopithicus africanus, A. boisei, and other ancient forms like Paranthropus and Ardipithecus.

Article here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6311619.stm).

Wouldn't it be weird if they'd still been around today? Two species of humans...1. this news is very old.
2. there is not yet any conclusive evidence at all that this find indeed represents a separate human species.

I thought any species of the genus Homo was considered human. Hmm, maybe I should read some of the stuff published in the last 15 years or so.

Also, the article said several specimens have been found.

Second "modern." And if you're talking Homo Sapiens Idaltu vs Homo Sapiens Sapiens, that would be sub-species, not species, by the classification.

I would say third "modern," counting the Neanderthals as being roughly contemporary with us, assuming it pans out. Basically, they need to find another intact skull to be sure. The anecdotal reports that they may have been around fairly recently - i.e., past the Neanderthal's extinction - are what makes it very interesting.

Second "modern." And if you're talking Homo Sapiens Idaltu vs Homo Sapiens Sapiens, that would be sub-species, not species, by the classification.

I would say third "modern," counting the Neanderthals as being roughly contemporary with us, assuming it pans out. Basically, they need to find another intact skull to be sure. The anecdotal reports that they may have been around fairly recently - i.e., past the Neanderthal's extinction - are what makes it very interesting.

florensis according to my daughter the Archeology student may be a variety of Homo Erectus...then there is also a possibility that Homo Erectus also survived to relatively recent times(speculation)...so there could be three or even four species living together at the same time until recently...