In the latest round of what Time magazine has labled the "Hobbit wars", Professor Teuku Jacob and collaborators have published this week in PNAS the results of their examination of the Lia Buang
Homo floresiensis fossils and have proposed that the key specimen LB1, the small-brained skull and holotype of the species
H. floresiensis is drawn from an earlier pygmy
H. sapiens population, but individually shows signs of a development abnormality, including microcephaly, and that the additional postcranial remains from Lia Buang share small body size but not microcephaly.
The PNAS article is:
Published online before print August 23, 2006
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 10.1073/pnas.0605563103
OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE
Pygmoid Australomelanesian Homo sapiens skeletal remains from Liang Bua, Flores: Population affinities and pathological abnormalities
T. Jacob *, E. Indriati *, R. P. Soejono , K. Hsü , D. W. Frayer ¶, R. B. Eckhardt ||, A. J. Kuperavage ||, A. Thorne **, and M. Henneberg *Laboratory of Bioanthropology and Paleoanthropology, Gadjah Mada University Faculty of Medicine, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia; National Archaeological Research Center, J1. Raya Condet Pejaten No. 4, Jakarta 12001, Indonesia; Kenneth Hsü Center for Integrated Hydrologic Circuits Development, National Institute of Earth Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; ¶Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045; ||Laboratory for the Comparative Study of Morphology, Mechanics, and Molecules, Department of Kinesiology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802; **Archaeology and Natural History, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200 Australia; and Anatomical Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide SA 5005, Australia
Contributed by K. Hsü, July 7, 2006
Liang Bua 1 (LB1) exhibits marked craniofacial and postcranial asymmetries and other indicators of abnormal growth and development. Anomalies aside, 140 cranial features place LB1 within modern human ranges of variation, resembling Australomelanesian populations. Mandibular and dental features of LB1 and LB6/1 either show no substantial deviation from modern Homo sapiens or share features (receding chins and rotated premolars) with Rampasasa pygmies now living near Liang Bua Cave. We propose that LB1 is drawn from an earlier pygmy H. sapiens population but individually shows signs of a developmental abnormality, including microcephaly. Additional mandibular and postcranial remains from the site share small body size but not microcephaly.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author contributions: T.J., E.I., D.W.F., R.B.E., A.T., and M.H. designed research; T.J., E.I., R.P.S., K.H., D.W.F., R.B.E., A.J.K., A.T., and M.H. performed research; R.B.E. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; T.J., E.I., R.P.S., K.H., D.W.F., R.B.E., A.J.K., A.T., and M.H. analyzed data; and T.J., E.I., R.P.S., K.H., D.W.F., R.B.E., A.T., and M.H. wrote the paper.
Conflict of interest statement: No conflicts declared.
Freely available online through the PNAS open access option.
To whom correspondence may be addressed.
K. Hsü, E-mail:
kenjhsu@aol.comR. B. Eckhardt, E-mail:
eyl@psu.eduPlease note that PNAS has published this as an "open access" article, which means it is free to everyone
without subscription, available (via icon for a pdf) from the abstract page, at:
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0605563103v1?etocKris Hirst has written an informative article, which includes an interview with one of the PNAS authors (Robert Eckhardt) and a rebuttal (by Russell Ciochon), with links to several news stories at the end, at archaeology.about.com:
http://archaeology.about.com/od/floresman/a/flores3.htmAnd always worth reading, John Hawks has posted his weblog take on the story at:
http://johnhawks.net/weblog/fossils/flores/jacob_2006_pathology.htmlBut it's safe to say, no one believes this is the final word on this controversy.
Dar
