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Hobbit or No Hobbit? That is the question...
By Crobar in Neurognosis
October 10, 2007

Actually the question is diseased modern human or not diseased modern human in relation to the specimen (LB-1) nicknamed the "Hobbit". The specimen was discovered in 2003 in a cave on the island of Flores. The initial paper describing it (published in the October 28, 2004 issue of Nature) assigned it to a previously unknown hominid species, Homo floresiensis. Some in the community were, and continue to be, skeptical of this assignment. The prominent alternative hypothesis has been that the specimen is a modern human which had a disorder called microcephaly. This disorder is said to explain the small brain size and small stature of the specimen. The debate has continued over the last few years.

Flash forward to the present. An article published in the September 21, 2007 issue of the journal Science has claimed to show evidence supporting the new species argument. Matthew W. Tocheri and colleagues studied the wrist bones of LB-1. Their conclusions were:

"This evidence indicates that LB1 is not a modern human with an undiagnosed pathology or growth defect; rather, it represents a species descended from a hominin ancestor that branched off before the origin of the clade that includes modern humans, Neandertals, and their last common ancestor."

This adds substantial weight against the microcephaly argument. However, one of the challengers of the new species argument, Robert Martin, has said that he thinks "the evidence they've presented is fine, it's the interpretation that is problematic".