Homo Floresiensis

Background

Homo Floresiensis, also known as the “Hobbit”, derived from J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy series, was discovered in the Liang Bua cave on the island of Flores in eastern Indonesia in October 2004. Two individuals were found in the cave, a “nearly complete skeleton” from one (LB1), and the “isolated lower premolar” from the second (LB2), (Groves, 2007). LB1 dates to about 18,000 years ago, while LB2 is much older (Groves, 2007). From the remains of the skeleton, (LB1), we understand that it was a fully grown adult, but that it stood at only 1m tall and weighed between 16 – 29 kg (Scarre, 2013). In October 2005, the remains of seven others were found (Groves, 2007). According to (Morwood, 2004) dating by radiocarbon (14C), luminescence,

However, a particular feature of Homo Floresiensis is that is lacks a chin (Powledge, 2006). Homo Sapiens are the only known hominids to have them, therefore this chinless argument may indicate a new species. Another interesting point, one that argues that Homo Floresiensis is not a new species, is that the teeth are much smaller when compared to other hominids, and are more like Homo Sapiens in terms of shape and size (Powledge, 2006).

Island Dwarfism?

The theory of island dwarfing suggests that Homo Floresiensis is not a new species, and explains that its very short stature is due to there being limited resources on the island of Flores, and so over time Homo Floresiensis adapted in body size to compensate for this. This theory is credible because it has already happened to elephants in Asia, which are known as pygmy elephants.

Co-discoverer of Homo Floresiensis, Peter Brown, thinks that island dwarfing is unlikely as well as the theory that they originate from Homo Erectus, but instead believes that they most likely come from an ancestor who was also small in body size and brain size (Powledge,

The most popular suggestion for a medical affliction seems to be a severe growth disorder, which can lead to disorders such as Microcephaly, resulting in reduced body size (Scarre, 2013). Upon discovery at the excavation site, the describers proposed a new name for LB1, Sundanthropus Floresianus (Aiello, 2010). Reviewers of the original descriptions noted that the cranium was clearly Homo (Aiello, 2010), even with its unusually small brain size of about 417 cc (Scarre, 2013), compared to a modern human with a brain size of about 1200 cc. Due to this, they decided to refer to it as Homo Florsiensis (Aiello,