Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Who were Hobbits?

The Hobbits(correctly names Homo florensis(Flores Man)) are, according to evidence, is a hominid that is about 38,000 to 18,000 old or either 12,000 years old (Researchers still have not drawn a conclusion, has a small brain that is about the size of a modern chimps. The thing that confuses scientists is the fact that anatomically the Hobbit has a small brain but tools and evidence of intelligence have been found where the paleontologists, in 2003, excavated a cave called Liang Bua on the Island of Flores, Indonesia. One conclusion to the reason that these hominids are so small is that they simply suffered from Microphaly which is a genetic disorder that shrinks brain and body size. Another conclusion is that Island Dwarfing occurred, Island Dwarfing happens to species on isolated islands. They usually become smaller over time to adapt. A 3rd conclusion is that the Hobbit is a scale down version of a known human ancestor like Homo erectus. The problem is we have very little evidence to prove that any of these theories are true. The most complete skeleton we have is that of "Flo"and female who died at 30 years old. She had protruding brows and cheeks and no chin. Her wrists were like apes and he shoulder blades slightly forward.The feet of Flo were long and flat. With all the information we have gathered still do not have enough evidence to truly draw conclusions. For example how do we know that they made the tools? Or even if they did, did they have the muscle to even lift them?

No comments:

Post a Comment