Topic ID #7044 - posted 2/21/2010 3:54 PM

How a hobbit is rewriting the history of the human race



Jennifer Palmer

Webmaster

How a hobbit is rewriting the history of the human race

The Observer, Sunday 21 February 2010

The discovery of the bones of tiny primitive people on an Indonesian island six years ago stunned scientists. Now, further research suggests that the little apemen, not Homo erectus, were the first to leave Africa and colonise other parts of the world, reports Robin McKie


Read the article here.


Post ID#17395 - replied 2/23/2010 5:47 AM



Dmack89


StarRider, not sure I understand your point, are you suggesting that H. florensis is or is not (may or may not be) a seperate species?  It seems pretty clear that they are to me - and that wherever they branched off the line of our ancestry - they did not lead to modern humans, but rather became an evolutionary dead end.  If you are suggesting anything other than that, please explain.

The point of this article seems to focus on the potential that they are an early branch, which may have left Africa earlier than typical H. erectus, thereby providing even greater evidence that the are not our direct ancestors.  What is ivery nteresting is that it seems they may have independently develop some stone tool technology.  That has some major implications for our theories on tool use by our ancestors. 

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