The new study supports the "hobbit" hypothesis, whereby the dwarf tendency has been activated to suit a difficult life on a deserted island.
>>>The hobbit
The study of an organism's remains in the Indonesian island of Flores suggests that this may be the dwarf version of the first human genus in the evolutionary history of mankind. Nicknamed 'hobbit' after the dwarf in the Lord of the Rings series, the adult of this genus is no higher than the 3-year-old today and weighs about 25kg. The new study suggests that hobbits may have coexisted with our species until extinction 12,000 years ago, according to the Proceedings B Journal.
Dwarfism affects every creature on ancient Flores island
Since finding the bones of a special species on the island in 2003, experts have found every way to explain the mysterious presence of this creature, whose scientific name is Homo floresiensis . One of the popular hypotheses is that the hobbits form a human limb with rather large brains and bodies, once thriving in East Asia, known as Homo erectus. This is the first ancient person to be able to stand on two feet and appear almost 2 million years ago in Africa. Experts say they arrived at Flores Island in the conquest of East Asia, with territory stretching from Turkey to China. People stand upright and stronger than smart people (Homo sapiens), but the brain is not as complex as it is.
After the H.erectus migrated to the island of Flores, perhaps through the nearby island of Java, descendant classes began to shrink in size from generation to generation, according to the process that scientists call dwarfism in the island, because of food scarcity. This dwarf process takes place not only in humans but also in other animal species that also reside on the island. Meanwhile, the protesters rejected the possibility, arguing that the H.erectus brain could not be so oversized, with the size of an orange the size of a grapefruit-sized skull, was poor. brain chimpanzee. Another hypothesis is that dwarves may be a small group of modern people, Homo sapiens, but their brains and their bodies are under normal growth due to some strict illness, or they may be descendants of monkey-like creatures with small brains.
Recently, brain scan results conducted by the Japanese team show that the "hobbit" brain is slightly better than previously thought. To draw this conclusion, Dr. Yousuke Kaifu of the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo and his colleagues also conducted an analysis of the relative ratio of brain to body in modern people. Since then her group has concluded that the H.erectus human brain can still shrink to the size of a dwarf's brain. 'Our work does not prove that erectus are the ancestors of floresiensis, ' said BBC Kaifu. However, do not rule out the possibility.
As can be seen, the poor food chain situation on the island did not allow the erectus to maintain its original shape and size, and had to "reorganize the brain" , in the direction of maintaining its function despite its size. Verry little. The condition of dwarfism not only occurs in floresiensis, but also the common fate of creatures on Flores island. If an extinct elephant species could be larger than African elephants in continental conditions, on Flores they are only marginally better than today's water buffalo, which weighs about 400kg.
Experts say the controversy over the floresiensis is part of a bigger debate around the story of human evolution. It seems that this evolution is also problematic, and "hobbits" are just a failed experiment.
