Hobbits Live Again -- Pretty Stunning

[cignus_pfaccari]

But were the Elves (is that Homo Elvi? Homo Elivs? ) just as weak, whiny, and lame?

Homo nobilis in Shadowrun. And, yes, they were. After all, they were elves! ;-)

It's not that surprising that something like that could last so long. The island was probably marginal, and as long as they kept killing any H. sapiens that showed up, they'd've been okay. Heck, it's quite possible that eventually that population did get wiped out by human agency, and not just natural catastrophe like is suggested.

And, like Andrew said, there are enough pre-existing legends about such creatures in the area (hrm...korobokuru? Menehune?) to make one think that, maybe, just maybe, we'll find their remains somewhere else...and maybe even a live one eventually.

Wow...I just realized that somewhere, a crackpot has begun his theory that these bones are proof that dwarves invented civilization...mostly because I just started connecting all sorts of legends and such. Man, I read too much Hancock and Bauval.

Brad

 

[Mark]

I can't help but wonder what conclusions scientists 10K years in the future will leap to when they find the the bones of Gul Mohammed...

She wasn't alone.

She is the best example of a trove of fragmented bones that account for as many as seven of these primitive individuals that lived on the equatorial island of Flores, located east of Java and northwest of Australia. The mostly intact female skeleton was found in September 2003.

 

[Krieg]

She wasn't alone.

The point is still valid.

Latest genes manifesting within a single family, individuals exhibiting unusual traits within a tribal culture, exiled or forced to live together, a traveling circus sideshow act...etc

 

[Mark]

The point is still valid.

Latest genes manifesting within a single family, individuals exhibiting unusual traits within a tribal culture, exiled or forced to live together, a traveling circus sideshow act...etc

Nope. Gul Mohammed would be found among a plethora of common-sized skeletal remains. Flores is found among others of her kind but there's no mention of common-sized skeletal remains (and, I've no doubt, they would have been mentioned if they had also found common-sized remains on site). Nice try. Your point is not valid, though it is humorous in a George Carlin-esque sort of way...

 

[mythusmage]

So far I've got five links to the story at my blog. Under Frodo Was An Indonesian. Nature, National Geographic, the Washington Post. It has weight.

Go to the Nat Geo story first, it appears to be the best written overall.

 

[Ranger REG]

Sighs. Let's get this straight. There are no real hobbits.

HOWEVER, there are menehunes, and even I wouldn't disturb their graves.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

Nope. Gul Mohammed would be found among a plethora of common-sized skeletal remains. Flores is found among others of her kind but there's no mention of common-sized skeletal remains (and, I've no doubt, they would have been mentioned if they had also found common-sized remains on site). Nice try. Your point is not valid, though it is humorous in a George Carlin-esque sort of way...

I'm not an anthropologist but Gul Mohammed will be found amongst common-sized skeletal remains sure but he didn't grow up on an island with who knows how small of a gene pool. If he traveled somehow to some unihabited island with a small group of people and he mated its possible that with the small gene pool his lack of size would be a common trait on the island for future generations. Just a couple of intial homo errectus could of arrived in this area with 1 or 2 of them being really small his/her genes got mixed with everyone elses in a couple generaitons everyone there is small. While this makes great headlines getting to call them hobbits etc. Calling them a different species instead of just maybe an inbred group of homo errectus may be premature. But hey a inbred group of homo errectus proably can be defined as a new species, by calling the lack of height being inbred into them a evolutionary step.

 

[tarchon]

With floresiensis the morphology is so different, it's not so much a question of whether it's a new species as whether it's a new genus. There's a serious case to be made for this being as much Australopithecus as Homo, which is probably the most profound aspect with regard to its implication for the overall picture of human prehistory. Typically, island dwarf populations easily make the grade as separate species because of the geographic reproductive isolation.

 

[DMScott]

I can't help but wonder what conclusions scientists 10K years in the future will leap to when they find the the bones of Gul Mohammed....

From the misproportioned skeleton, they'll most likely "leap" to the conclusion that Gul Mohammed suffered from some type of skeletal dysplasia. That after all is the conclusion they've "leapt" to with various other archaelogical finds where the skeleton had some features out of proportion with the others (the skull, for example). The Flores find doesn't display those sorts of characteristics, by all accounts - it's a properly proportioned, adult skeleton.