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--- Begin Message ----Caveat Lector- http://ww1.mid-day.com/news/world/2004/october/95796.htmRemains of hobbit-like species found ���By: Khalid A-H Ansari ���October 29, 2004 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sydney: The newly discovered remains of a previously unknown species of miniature human in the Indonesian island of Flores, 600 kilometres east of Bali, by Australian and Indonesian scientists, are being hailed as the most significant scientific find of the past century. But what has excited scientists about the discovery, last September, of man�s hobbit-like relation, is that the species lived as recently as 13,000 years ago � long after homo sapiens started walking the planet. The finding of the skeleton of what is now acknowledged as the remains of a short woman with long arms extending to her knees and a small brain is poised to overtake earlier theories about prehistory and rewrite the definition of humanity. The scientists, who discovered the skeleton, have concluded after research at the University of New South Wales in Armidale, Australia, that it is that of a 30-year-old woman, a metre tall with a brain the size of a chimpanzee (or grapefruit) and knuckles reaching down to her knees. Dubbed �the hobbit� � homo floresiensis � it is being considered our �long lost cousin� and pin-up girl of the scientific world. It is estimated that the woman died about 18,000 years ago and represents an entirely new human species, which overlapped with modern people for at least 25,000 years. Bones from seven other individuals have since been found, some dating back just 13,000 years. They shared the Earth with modern man for at least 40,000 years but did not have any of our genes (nor we of theirs), making them a completely isolated offshoot species, challenging all theories that we are the sole human inhabitants of Earth. Scientists have pieced together an image � with the male of the species (see picture) � of a hairless, dark-skinned dwarf with a comparatively small head, countersunk eyes, flat nose, big teeth and mouth jutting forward with virtually no chin. Worn teeth in the woman�s skull indicate that the species chewed on plant life for nutrients. Stone tools were also discovered, suggesting they hunted for food, including stegodon. Evidence also denotes that they used fire for heat and, possibly, cooking. According to associate professor Mike Morwood, an archaeologist at the dig, �It means two different types of species existed at the same time. To say we�re excited is an understatement. �Never in our wildest dreams did we think we�d find such a complete specimen. We were expecting tests to show the date of the bones to be around 1,00,000 years old. �When it came back at 18,000, we thought it was a mistake. But it�s right.� Later excavations in the Liang Bua cave site in July and August have unearthed remains 13,000 years �young�. When excavators at the site first discovered the remains of the �hobbit� � a small, but well-proportioned creature � they believed they had found the remains of a three-year-old child. When Peter Brown, an Australian paleoanthropologist at the University of New England in Armidale, first saw the skeleton in Jakarta, he says he was �stunned�. �I knew in a nanosecond that it was something unusual. �It was right out of left field,� he is reported as recalling. �The last time things like this walked the planet was three to 4.5 million years ago,� Brown said. The �hobbit� was very small, measuring only about one metre in height. Then he and his colleagues measured the little creature�s brain. �There was dead silence,� Brown says. �I went a bit pale and my jaw dropped to my knees. It had the brain size of a chimp but (archaeological evidence showed) it was a toolmaker and a biped (walked on two legs).� �Right then,� says Brown�s colleague Mike Morwood, �Peter knew the team was on to something seriously heavyweight.� The third member of the team was convinced that the unusual creature had some characteristics, like body and brain size, that were similar to Africa�s three-million-year-old australopithecines, our most ancient ancestors. But other anatomical features resembled those of a more recent archaic human called homo erectus. In particular, it looked like a creature that lived about two million years ago in the republic of Georgia. Brown says of the find that finding a spaceship would have been less of a surprise. �We were looking for early modern humans when we came across this new species of dwarf human whose lineage is millions of years old. �It�s an absolutely bizarre find, a bit like a miniature Jurassic Park.� Brown adds, �Until recently, Flores was a kind of Lost World. We don�t now how they got there (Flores) because the place is very isolated. We discovered stone tools and evidence of rock formations, suggesting the species used fire. �Although the brain size tells us they weren�t as bright as us, it�s clear information was processed in the same way.� The team believes homo floresiensis was wiped out by a volcanic explosion about 12,000 years ago. �If it hadn�t been for that eruption, this species would still be on the planet today.� www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. 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