While we are all waiting to hear from Morwood, Brown and colleagues about the results of their ongoing work at Liang Bua, here is a new paper that should fuel the ongoing controversy:
Hershkovitz, Israel, Liora Kornreich, and Zvi Laron. 2007. Comparative Skeletal Features Between Homo floresiensis and Patients With Primary Growth Hormone Insensitivity (Laron Syndrome). American Journal of Physical Anthropology 000:000-000ABSTRACT:
Comparison between the skeletal remains of
Homo floresiensis and the auxological and roentgenological findings in a large Israeli cohort of patients with Laron Syndrome (LS, primary or classical GH insensitivity or resistance) revealed striking morphological similarities, including extremely small stature and reduced cranial volume. LS is an autosomal recessive disease caused by a molecular defect of the Growth Hormone (GH) receptor or in the post-receptor cascades. Epidemiological studies have shown that LS occurs more often in consanguineous families and isolates, and it has been described in several countries in South East Asia. It is our conclusion that the findings from the island of Flores, which were attributed to a new species of the genus
Homo, may in fact represent a local, highly inbred,
Homo sapiens population in whom a mutation for the GH receptor had occurred.
KEY WORDS:
Homo floresiensis; Laron syndrome; human evolution; GH receptor
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Jacques
