Concerning Hobbits

1
Concerning Hobbits

• Emily Antony
• Bellarmine University
• Evolution
• Spring 2005

2
The Little Lady of Flores

• 800,000 year old stone tools found in 1998
• Found on Flores Island in Indonesia
• Found in Liang Bua in September of 2003
• Peter Brown led the analysis
• Mike Morwood directed the dig

3
About the Skeleton

• Remains found skull, mandible, teeth, pelvis,
  and leg bones
• Not fossilized or covered with calcium carbonate
  very fragile!
• LB1 was a 30 year old female

4
Homo or Australopithicus?
Homo neanderthalensis
Australopithicus africanus
5
Size

• Stature
• Smaller than any other Pleistocene hominid
• Cranial capacity

6
Method of walking
Left modern human femur Right LB1s
femur Shape of the pelvis consistent with other
bipedal hominids
7
Mandible

• Chewing adaptations Australopithicans
• Chin similar to Australopithicans
• No large canines like Homo
• Overall morphology consistent with the Homo
  genus

8
Mandible Pictures
Homo floresiensis
A. anamensis
Homo erectus from Java
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And the winner is

• Brown and Morwood argree LB1 is a member of the
  Homo genus
• More specific measurements for comparison

10
Is LB1 a new species?

• Dwarfism
• Microcephaly
• Dean Falk at Florida State University
• Endocast or brain
• Falk thinks that the shape of the brain is
  something new

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Smarts

• H. erectus vs. H. floresiensis
• The temporal lobe
• H. sapiens vs. H. floresiensis
• Brodmanns area 10
• H. floresiensis had to have possessed some
  intelligence

12
How old are they?

• Several different methods radiocarbon dating,
  infrared stimulated luminescence, and
  thermoluminescence
• Found LB1 is 18,000 years old
• Speculate that H. floresiensis was extant until
  at least 12,000 years ago

13
What was life like?

• Found remains of other animals
• Found the remains of many juvenile Stegodon
• Different tools for different tasks

Stone tools found at Liang Bua
14
How did H. floresiensis get so small?

• Two different theories
• Island Dwarfism Allopatric Speciation
• Small before they came to Flores Island

15
Other Finds in Asia

• The scientists that headed up this project think
  that other finds need to be reexamined
• Evidence of H. floresiensis may be in these finds
  or other areas
• This find has raised interest in doing more
  excavations in the area around

16
Orang Pendek

• Cryptozoology
• Orang Pendek of Sumantra
• Interest in sightings
• Maybe based on some kernel of truth

17
Why is H. floresiensis such a big deal?

• Smallest hominid of Pleistocene Era
• Overlapped in time with H. sapiens
• Changes in the way human evolution is viewed
• Bigger brains may not equal smarter animals
• Bushy evolutionary tree
• Renewed interest in Asian/Southeast Asian
  excavations past, presents, and future

18
References

• Brown, P., T. Sutikna, M. J. Morwood, R. P.
  Soejono, Jatmiko, E. Wayhu Saptomo, Rokus Awe
  Due. A New Small-Bodied Hominin from the Late
  Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia. Nature. Vol
  431. 28 October 2004.
• cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen Dr. Bill Tietjen
• en.wikipedia.org online encyclopedia
• Gee, Henry. Flores, God, and Cryptozoology.
  Nature Online. 27 October 2004.
• Hopkin, Michael. The Flores Find. Nature
  Online. 27 October 2004.
• Lahr, Marta Mirazon, Robert Foley. Human
  Evolution Writ Small. Nature Online. 27 October
  2004.
• Mayell, Hillary. Hobbit Brains Were Small but
  Smart, Study Says. National Geographic News. 3
  March 2005.

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References continued

• Mayell, Hillary. Hobbit-Like Human Ancestor
  Found in Asia. National Geographic News. 27
  October 2004.
• Morwood, M.J., R. P. Soejono, R. G. Roberts, T.
  Sutikna, C. S. M. Turney, K. E. Westaway, W. J.
  Rink, J.-x. Zhao, G. D. van den Bergh, Rokus Awe
  Due, D. R. Hobbs, M. W, Moore, M. I. Bird, L. K.
  Fifield. Archaeology and Age of a New Hominin
  from Flores in Eastern Indonesia. Nature. Vol
  431. 28 October 2004.
• Orang-Pendek. www.meta-religion.com/Paranormale/Cr
  yptozoology/hominids/orang-pendek.htm.
• Stringer, Chris. A Stranger from Flores.
  National Geographic. Accessed 28 April 2005.
• Wayman, E. R. The Discovery of a New Species of
  Small Hominins. Current Anthropology. Vol 45.
  Issue 5. December 2004.

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Pictures

• Most of the pictures came from sites linked by
  Dr. Tietjen