View Full Version : 'Hobbit' Skull Study Finds Hobbit Is Not Human
halleyscomet
22-01-2009, 08:35 PM
ScienceDaily (Jan. 21, 2009) (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090120144508.htm) — In a an analysis of the size, shape and asymmetry of the cranium of Homo floresiensis, Karen Baab, Ph.D., a researcher in the Department of Anatomical Scienes at Stony Brook University, and colleagues conclude that the fossil, found in Indonesia in 2003 and known as the “Hobbit,” is not human.
http://www.karenbaab.com/ (http://www.karenbaab.com/)
http://www.karenbaab.com/uploads/1/5/6/4/1564155/8792781.jpg?181x248
karen baab
Size, shape, and asymmetry in fossil hominins: (http://www.karenbaab.com/uploads/1/5/6/4/1564155/baabmcnulty2008_size_scaling_asymmetry_lb1.pdf)
supertzar
23-01-2009, 05:54 PM
Did anyone think they were human?
halleyscomet
26-01-2009, 05:11 PM
Did anyone think they were human?
There was some discussion that they might have represented a population with a genetic disorder. If a population with a high incidence of a particular genetic disorder becomes isolated, that trait could become a dominant facet of the population's appearance. A good example would be the village in Turkey where many people walk on their hands, finding it difficult to impossible to walk on their feet.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4782492.stm
Another example would be one of the 19th century carny villages consisting largely of "Little People". A village like that is going to have a much higher incidence of various forms of dwarfism than the population at large.