Friday, March 14th, 2008
A New Species, or Just Small Humans?
The discovery of unusual skeletal remains on the islands of Palau suggests that the so-called 'hobbits' found several years ago in Indonesia may have been dwarf humans, not a separate species.
Writing in the journal PLoS One, researchers report that they discovered parts of human skeletons dating to between 900 and 2,800 years ago in caves on the Pacific islands of Palau. The researchers say that the remains, though quite small, are clearly those of modern humans. A population living in isolation, as on an island, can develop 'insular dwarfism,' the researchers say. However, though the newly found remains are similar to those found on the island of Flores several years ago, the researchers cannot say definitely that similar factors are at work in both sets of remains. We'll talk with one of the authors of the new study about the work.
Guests
Lee Berger
Professor and Reader, Human Evolution and Public Understanding of Science
University of the Witwatersrand
Johannesburg, South Africa
Related Links
- PLoS One: Small-Bodied Humans from Palau, Micronesia
- Nature Web Focus: Flores Man
- Wired Science: Finding Common Ground in the Hobbit Controversy
- NY Times: Discovery Challenges Finding of a Separate Human Species
- National Geographic: Ancient Bones of Small Humans Discovered in Palau
Segment produced by:Karin Vergoth
Listen:
Friday, March 14th, 2008
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Solar Power Scales Up
- A New Species, or Just Small Humans?
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Simulating an Outbreak of Pandemic Flu
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Happy Pi Day
Elsewhere on Sciencefriday.com
Science and Race
Early Hominid Fossil Find
How Cooking Made Us Human
The Hobbit Debate
Hobbit Bones Hold Clues To Its Origin
Oldest Fossil Brain Discovered
Jane Goodall
Genes -- And How Humans Got Their Dexterity
Spore and Evolution
Only a Theory




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