Homo floresiensis

Homo floresiensis ("Man of Flores") is a species in the genus Homo, remarkable for its small body, small brain, and survival until relatively recent times. It is thought to have been contemporaneous with modern humans (Homo sapiens) on the Indonesian island of Flores. One sub-fossil skeleton, dated at 18,000 years old, is largely complete. It was discovered in deposits in Liang Bua Cave on Flores in 2003. Also here, parts of six other individuals, all diminutive, have been recovered as well as similarly small stone tools from horizons ranging from 94,000 to 13,000 years ago. The first of these fossils was unearthed in 2003; the publication date of the original description is October 2004; and confirmation of species status is expected to appear soon, following the March 2005 publication of details of the brain of Flores Man.

Related Topics:
Species - Genus - Homo - Brain - Human - Indonesian - Flores - Fossil - Skeleton - Liang Bua Cave - 2003 - Stone tool - October 2004 - March 2005

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Flores has been described (in the journal Nature) as "a kind of Lost World", where archaic animals, elsewhere long extinct, had evolved into giant and dwarf forms through allopatric speciation, due to its location East of the Wallace line. The island had dwarf elephants (a species of Stegodon, a prehistoric elephant) and giant monitor lizards akin to the Komodo dragon, as well as H. floresiensis, which can be considered a species of diminutive human. The discoverers have called members of the diminutive species "hobbits", after J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional race of roughly the same height. In the mythology of the island, there were common references to a small furry man called Ebu Gogo even into the 19th century.

Related Topics:
Nature - Lost World - Extinct - Allopatric speciation - Wallace line - Dwarf elephant - Stegodon - Elephant - Monitor lizard - Komodo dragon - Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien - Mythology - Ebu Gogo - 19th century

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