http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13449282,00.html

i doubt its a new species...but perhaps a midget.

Don't you think they would have thought of that if that were true..?

It's not a new species I don't think, just a different kind of people. There have been reports about these Hobbits for awhile now.

reports? Somebody finds a small skull and some bones and then there are sightings of these little people? sounds a bit far fetched for me....I better do some more extensive research on this topic. I'll see where this progresses at and I'll go to the library when i get off work today.

hmmm, maybe it was tolkiens way of telling of the old world! lol,joking.

-Pangea: Middle Earth?

I don't think you'll have much luck at a library, I suggest an online search.

I dont gather facts from the internet....I would rather gather facts from a published book. And i think as a theory these little small guys could be the answer behind the hollow earth theory....just an opinion for those types of people.

I just mean that these are pretty recent findings, there might not be any books on them yet.

"The small head is controversial, because it contradicts theories that assume a large brain is necessary for intelligence." - Sky News

Actually, it's the size of the brain compared to body size. If brain size alone was used to rate intelligence, whales would be the smartest beings on the planet. (Some would argue that they are anyway). Since these 'hobbits' are only three feet tall, it would stand to reason that their brains would also be smaller than the average sized human.

I know you were joking but:
Did you know there are people that believe that Tolkien was telling stories about true things? There was a guy on this board awhile back that believed that middle earth and elves were all true. A grown man believed this. Crazy, crazy.

I've been facinated by these Hobbits since they were first discovered they are incredibly interesting and have the ability to change how we understand evolution.

I find it interesting that along with the minature people they have also found minature elephants.

And I wonder also what kiled all of the hobbits off. Knowing the way things work, it was probably bigger, faster, hungrier people.

Edit to add a link to,
New Scientist.

They say that a more likely ancestral line goes back to australopithecine species such as 3-million-year-old “Lucy”, found in Ethiopia (Australopithecus afarensis).

An organism will evolve to fit the resource limits of its eviroment. Thus in many smaller enviroments organism will miniturize. There are 'pygmy' forests a few miles to the north of me where pitch pines grow only a meter and a half at the most and the white tail deer are the size of roe deer and researchers cannot find any mutation in the tree's or deer's genetics.
I believe the theory that they are just homo erectus that had developed to that particular enviroment.

Lapi'che

This Pic was just in the Sydney Morning Herald today:

http://www.smh.com.au/media/2005/10/12/1128796588094.html

it's genetics
short + short = short
after many generations you get a race of them

why does that picture show them as monkey's? their skulls look like that of a miniature humans.

I believe these are a new species, derived from the Homo erectus, perhaps a subspecies. But more than likely a new species.