According to this article researchers have found that the 'Hobbit' otherwise known as Homo floresiensis had wrists that were primative when compared to that of human beings backing the original theory that these tiny people were actually a different species and not just pygmy humans with a brain defect.
QUOTE
Matthew Tocheri and colleagues tell Science magazine that the bones look nothing like those of Homo sapiens; they look ape-like.
The announcement in 2004 detailing the discovery of Homo floresiensis caused a sensation.
Some researchers, though, have doubted the interpretation of the find.
These individuals - including the Indonesian palaeoanthropologist Teuku Jacob - have argued that the remains are probably those of a pygmy with the brain defect known as microcephaly.
But the new analysis by Tocheri, from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, US, and co-authors will add further weight to the original assessment.
Their study shows that the wrist bones of the Hobbit are primitive and shaped differently from the bones of both modern humans and even their near-evolutionary cousins, the now extinct Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis).
The announcement in 2004 detailing the discovery of Homo floresiensis caused a sensation.
Some researchers, though, have doubted the interpretation of the find.
These individuals - including the Indonesian palaeoanthropologist Teuku Jacob - have argued that the remains are probably those of a pygmy with the brain defect known as microcephaly.
But the new analysis by Tocheri, from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, US, and co-authors will add further weight to the original assessment.
Their study shows that the wrist bones of the Hobbit are primitive and shaped differently from the bones of both modern humans and even their near-evolutionary cousins, the now extinct Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis).
I personally think this is very cool! (click link for the rest of the article)
