Palaeontology

'Hobbit' human may have had Down syndrome

By T.K. Randall
August 6, 2014

Image: Homo Floresiensis Cave
Credit: Rosino / CC BY-SA 2.0 (adapted) Few anthropological discoveries have been as fiercely debated in recent times as the finding in 2004 of bones in Indonesia of what some believed to be a previously unknown species of human with an abnormally small stature.

While many experts have contested the idea that the bones belonged to a genuinely distinct species, a recent reanalysis of the remains has opened up the possibility that the 'Hobbit' might have actually been a modern human suffering from Down syndrome.Of particular note was a discrepancy in the estimated brain size of the individual, originally thought to be one third that of a modern human, based on measurements of its skull.

"The difference is significant, and the revised figure falls in the range predicted for a modern human with Down syndrome from the same geographic region," said Professor Robert B. Eckhardt.

Source: Discovery News

Tags: Hobbit, Flores