Korean Job Discussion Forums

[gang ah jee]

For those of you that like to ignore the creation/evolution threads, this is some very interesting news from one of Junior's favourite websites.

[mithridates]

I feel great about this. There's no bigger blow to fundamentalism than proof that humans aren't the centre of the universe. It's also good to see them discovered in Indonesia - something as big as this can't help but be linked to national pride, and therefore gets welcomed into the largest Muslim country in the world as fact without controversy (I assume).

Too bad Tolkien isn't around to see this.

Last thought: I say we try to find a Jurassic Park-style way to bring these hobbits back.

[jaganath69]

[gang ah jee]

[alffy]

Yea, this is kind of older news in the field.

It is a good article, though. It's really just about one side of a debate as to whether the fossils (LB1 in particular) is a valid representation of a new species or just a pathological specimen suffering from a form of dwarfism.

Actually, if you look down on the right side of the linked article you can find links to articles that argue in favor of pathology.

The problem with this work is that Dean Falk, the lead researcher is known for, how should I say, slightly less than meticulous work. Regarding this research in particular, she used a relatively small sample size and her selection of microcephalic skulls to be used in comparison were peculiar (4 out of 9 were subadults- LB1 was clearly a fully mature adult and should be compared against other adults).

In my weak opinion (I have, admitedly, been following along on this story with only a little interest), I think the evidence may support the original determination of a new species. I just don't know if all the assignations of tool use and fully human cultural patterns are applicable.



Check out the chin, how it's rounded without any indication of a mental eminence (triangular ridge of bone that defines a modern human chin). This is very much an archaic human trait and is not a characteristic of any microencephaly.

My favorite hypothesis so far is that after the initial introduction of Homo erectus to Flores 800,000 years ago (a major feat in-and-of-itself considering the necesity for water travel- Flores was never attached by land even at the lowest sea levels), then were subsequently cut of from gene flow with other archaic humans, and then, due to the nature of the island ecology, moved into a new niche- not as top predator, but rather as top frugivore. In effect, they moved into the niche normally filled by apes- the orangutan in the rest of SE Asia at the time (orangs never made it to Flores). As such, they spent considerable time in the trees (much of the morphology suggests this, particularly its size) and had no need for relatively big, metabolically expensive brains. By this hypothesis, while they would officially be members of the Homo genus, their mental capabilities would have been slightly above those of apes, something akin to the australopithecines.

Okay, lecture over. Now feel free to turn this topic into a debate between political ideologies, crazy conspiracy theories, or just let Junior post.

[gang ah jee]

[ChimpumCallao]

[Grimalkin]