Indonesian "hobbits" seem to be separate species

More research suggests that the "little people," the one-meter tall humans whose bones were discovered on the island of Flores, Indonesia in 2004, were a distinct species and not modern humans with a medical disorder. According to Smithsonian Institution anthropologist Matthew Tocheri and his colleagues, the little people's wrist bones are much more like those of an ape than a human. Their findings, published today in the journal Science, argue that this "hobbit" species split off at least 800,000 years ago from the evolutionary branch that led to humans. From the New York Times:

Dr. Tocheri and his colleagues said that the distinct species emerged from ancestors “that migrated out of Africa before the evolution of the shared, derived wrist morphology that is characteristic of modern humans, Neanderthals and their last common ancestor.”

But Robert B. Eckhardt, a professor of developmental genetics at Pennsylvania State University and one of several critics of the new-species designation, took issue with the new research. He said the wrist study appeared “to be an exercise in the presentation of misleading ideas in an obfuscatory manner.”

Link (Thanks, Xeni!)

Previously on BB:
• How Hobbits made tools Link
• Hobbit brain Link
• Fun on Flores Link
• Own your own Hobbit skull model Link

[#1 posted by Flying Squid , September 21, 2007 11:23 AM]

Well of COURSE Hobbits are a different species from men. I mean they live underground and have hairy feet and pointy ears.

[#2 posted by anangbhai , September 21, 2007 11:58 AM]

Me, I'm waiting for at least ONE scientific research paper that's titled, "Concerning Hobbits."

[#3 posted by stretchboy , September 21, 2007 12:30 PM]

A meter tall? I think I had a grandmother in law that was that tall. Looked kind of like the drawings of them too. :)

[#4 posted by Christopher , September 21, 2007 2:15 PM]

Anangbhai, you just about choked me with laughter when I read that...

What I find interesting is that the original title of the MSNBC piece on 9/20 was "Scientists Confirm ‘Hobbit’ Species Was Human" and they have now edited it. New Scientist was much more clear with "'Hobbit' wrist bones suggest a distinct species"

Like I said on Digg last night, how can there be such a huge disconnect between American science/media and the rest of the world?

[#5 posted by Brit , September 22, 2007 3:11 AM]

Like I said on Digg last night, how can there be such a huge disconnect between American science/media and the rest of the world?

I which direction? I remember one famous Indonesian scientist claiming that it was just a small human. Most all scientists seem to agree (month ago) that this was a separate species. There seems to be a few scientists with the unlikely idea that they were human, and I've seen some creationists claim they're just human (apparently, they're really afraid of any kind of species approaching human, but not quite human).