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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 03/18/2010 : 08:45:15
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There's been a lot more study of the "hobbit" and some conclusions have been reached:
Since the “Hobbit” fossil LB1 was discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2004, debate has raged as to whether it is a new species of hominid (Homo floresiensis), or a pathological modern human specimen. And, if it is a new species, where it should fit in the human family tree - a near-human relative, a dwarf Homo erectus, or something else?
The November issue of the Journal of Human Evolution was devoted to Homo floresiensis, with a number of papers on various aspects of its anatomy and environment.
Argue et al. have performed the first cladistic study of LB1. Cladistics uses comparisons of characteristics of specimens to try and determine their evolutionary relationships. Their results showed that LB1 most likely split from the rest of the genus Homo either after H. habilis but before H. rudolfensis, or after H. rudolfensis. It therefore evolved from an early Homo species, sometime between about 1.5 and 1.9 million years ago. They also tested whether LB1 could have shared a unique common ancestor with either Homo erectus or Homo sapiens, but both of these hypotheses were strongly rejected. Their full conclusion was:
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Read on..... This little fossil is really amazing, and, as these things go, it poses yet more questions.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Starman
SFN Regular
Sweden
1613 Posts |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
 Posted - 03/18/2010 : 11:42:16 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by filthy
There's been a lot more study of the "hobbit" and some conclusions have been reached:
Since the “Hobbit” fossil LB1 was discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2004, debate has raged as to whether it is a new species of hominid (Homo floresiensis), or a pathological modern human specimen. And, if it is a new species, where it should fit in the human family tree - a near-human relative, a dwarf Homo erectus, or something else?
The November issue of the Journal of Human Evolution was devoted to Homo floresiensis, with a number of papers on various aspects of its anatomy and environment.
Argue et al. have performed the first cladistic study of LB1. Cladistics uses comparisons of characteristics of specimens to try and determine their evolutionary relationships. Their results showed that LB1 most likely split from the rest of the genus Homo either after H. habilis but before H. rudolfensis, or after H. rudolfensis. It therefore evolved from an early Homo species, sometime between about 1.5 and 1.9 million years ago. They also tested whether LB1 could have shared a unique common ancestor with either Homo erectus or Homo sapiens, but both of these hypotheses were strongly rejected. Their full conclusion was:
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Read on..... This little fossil is really amazing, and, as these things go, it poses yet more questions.
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I have nothing to add, really. But I do love this stuff. There are so many twists and turns, with some surprising hominid, and in this case Homo species that need sorting out. It's all so much fun!!! |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 03/18/2010 : 13:20:13 [Permalink]
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Great stuff!
It's beginning to appear that hominids were streaming out of Africa in pulses and spreading across Asia for millions of years. Work to find what may turn out to be a spectrum of early species is only just beginning in Central Asia.
The dates for our direct ancestors leaving Mother Africa are probably pretty solid, but we had entire diverse clans of cousins who led the way hundreds of thousands of years earlier. |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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The mystery from Flores
