Pre-Historic Tiny Species Deemed Not Human
Is it just me or does anyone else desperately hope that the tiny hobbit-like fossils found in Indonesia do not belong to our human ancestors? I love the idea of a species of three feet tall creatures running around that hunted, used tools, and spoke in their own languages. Some scientists have argued that the fossils belong to humans with a growth disorder. Bah humbug on those guys. I’m siding with archaeologist and Associate Professor Mike Morwood of the University of New England who said this:
It is a new species of human who actually lived alongside us, yet were half our size. They were the height of a three-year-old child, weighed around 24 kg and had a brain smaller than most chimpanzees. Even so, they used fire, made sophisticated stone tools, and hunted Stegodon (a primitive type of elephant) and giant rats. We also believe that their ancestors may have reached the island using bamboo rafts. The clear implication is that, despite tiny brains, these little humans were intelligent and almost certainly had language.
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