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Scientists find new human speciesThe Daily Telegraph, Thursday, 28 October 2004 http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11...  SHE stands a metre tall, has a brain the size of a chimpanzee and her knuckles reach down to her knees - meet homo floresiensis, pin-up girl of the scientific world.The newly discovered species of human, dubbed "the Hobbit", is being hailed as the most significant scientific find of the past century and was unearthed by NSW archaeologists. Named after the Indonesian island of Flores where she was found, the female is thought to have been 30 years old when she died of natural causes. Scientists have pieced together an image - with the male of the species pictured right - of a hairless, dark-skinned dwarf with a comparatively small head, countersunk eyes, flat nose, big teeth and mouth jutting forward with virtually no chin. But what has scientists at the University of New England, Armidale, so excited is that the species lived as recently as 13,000 years ago - long after homo sapiens began walking the planet. "It's a totally different human species which lived side-by-side with us for 40,000 years at least," Associate Professor Mike Morwood, an archeologist on the dig, said. "It means two different types of human existed at the same time. To say we're excited's an understatement. "Never in our wildest dreams did we think we'd find such a complete specimen. We were expecting tests to show the date of the bones to be around 100,000 years old. "When it came back at 18,000, we thought it was a mistake. But it's right." Further excavations in the Liang Bua cave site in July and August have unearthed remains 13,000 years "young". Associate Professor Peter Brown, also of UNE, added: "Finding a spaceship would have been less of a surprise. This sort of species was supposed to have been extinct for a long time. "Then we find a brand new species on Flores - yesterday, in archaeological terms. "We don't know how they got there because Flores is very isolated. We discovered stone tools and evidence of rock formations, suggesting the species used fire. "Although the brain size tells us they weren't as bright as us, it's clear information was processed in the same way." The team believes homo floresiensis was wiped out by a volcanic eruption about 12,000 years ago. "If it hadn't been for that eruption, this species would still be on the planet today," the University of Wollongong's Professor Bert Roberts said. The team told Nature magazine Flores until recently was "a kind of Lost World". ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dutch may have met HobbitsOctober 29, 2004 SCIENTISTS who announced yesterday they had discovered a new human species suspect the "hobbits" could have lived as recently as 500 years ago. Experts from two NSW universities told how finding the dwarf-like skeleton in a remote cave on the Indonesian island of Flores was just the tip of the iceberg. They hope to continue digging in other parts of the island -- and prove some of the species survived until the 1500s, when Dutch explorers settled in the area. If the theory is proved correct, it would mean the 1m-tall hobbit -- scientifically known as homo floresiensis -- interacted with modern-day man, until it eventually died out. "Could they have persisted somewhere else on the island? Yes, they could have done," Professor Bert Roberts of Wollongong University asked. "There are lots of local folk tales in Flores about these people, which are consistent and incredibly detailed. "The stories suggest there may be more than a grain of truth to the idea that they were still living on Flores up until the Dutch arrived in the 1500s." Associate Professor Mike Morwood said he now wanted to start excavating on neighbouring islands to Flores such as Sulawesi, Lombok, Timor and Java. "We look forward to finding other species," said Mr Morwood, leader of the Australian-Indonesian team of archaeologists. "I wouldn't be surprised if modern humans consumed them. I look forward to finding grisly archaeological evidence of that." "Sulawesi has got to be another real cracker of an opportunity. We haven't had the planet to ourselves for all that long. "We are simply not that unique any longer. The difference between us and them is getting incredibly small." The new species was discovered in September last year.
What Others are Saying1 Comment Post Comment 1. Re: Scientists find new human speciesThe views expressed in the comments above are that of the internet public and are not neccessarily reflected by the philosophy of AAQ. Please report any abusive activity to webmistress(AT)animalactivism.org News Headlines on your Website Keep informed! Get the latest local animal rights news headlines on your website with live AAQ news feeds. << Return to News Archives Related News Articles 09 Aug Let Us Now Kill All The Dogs26 Jul The RSPCA Veggie-states. Members’ Crucial Cruelty-free Vote12 Jul Victoria's animal experiments skyrocket04 Jul Regulate animal surgical procedures30 Jun Mice can feel empathy, McGill study reveals25 May Dairy Council slams McCartney wife milk health claims25 May The monkeys wearing glasses to improve children's eyesight24 May China pledges to stop cat and dog fur trade22 May 7:30 Report: Philosopher Peter Singer spoke with Kerry O'Brien21 May Council bans animal-tested items16 May My Adventure Presenting Animal Rights Philosophy to the FBI29 Apr Activists protest against meat28 Apr Animal activists occupy abattoir28 Apr Animal liberation protesters call police for help28 Apr Security tight for World Meat Congress26 Apr Animal activists plan nude protest23 Apr Egg farmers seek compo over cages08 Apr Fearless cries from the wilderness24 Mar Red meat, red herring22 Mar Factory farming: A moraI issue11 Mar What's for bloody dinner?18 Feb Aussie icons behind bars24 Oct Animals in a horror world of our making20 Oct Dining with compassion13 Oct Fur flies for Pam11 Oct China bear bile farmer eaten by own animals08 Oct Fur she's a jolly good fellow16 Sep Stein attacks 'cruel' hen farming13 Sep RSPCA campaign targets live export, egg and pork industries11 Sep Pets need rescuing too08 Sep NYSE backs down in animal rights fight26 Aug Human Zoo Exhibit at London Zoo.20 Aug Animal rights protesters made bankrupt18 Aug Dogs used as shark bait11 Aug Decapitated Kangaroos Found on Australia Golf Course04 Aug Some vegetarians are queer fish01 Aug Is Meat Sustainable?21 Jul Asian Elephants Do Not Belong In Australian Zoos19 Jul Elephants 'losing tusks'07 Jul Burgers from a Lab? US Study Says it's Possible05 Jul Protesters strip against bull run05 Jul The knives are out27 Jun As the G8 global poverty debate hots up...26 Jun Pupils taught to eat whales25 Jun Sacrificed for science23 Jun Feral camel cull targets NT-SA border20 Jun Drug to fight bird flu pandemic useless: WHO10 Jun Animals Are Skinned Alive in China for Fur Export10 Jun War games are no fun for animals 08 Jun War games no fun for animals08 Jun Dumped livestock lands on Ras Al Khaimah beaches06 Jun America's War on Speech and the SHAC 7 Trial23 May Fear Factories: The Case for Compassionate Conservatism - for Animals26 Apr Australia announces wild camel cull31 Mar Call for seal hunt boycott28 Mar Raw food vegans thin but healthy, study finds26 Mar Take the club to seal hunt18 Mar Emotions high at animal farm06 Mar Sheep might be dumb ... but they're not stupid28 Feb Horns of a dilemma: bovines can have a cow of a day too11 Feb Elephant deaths spur new debate over U.S. zoos08 Feb Worms on a Hook Don't Suffer, Norway Experts Find08 Feb It's Fur Without Fear on New York Fashion Runways06 Feb Worst year for animal cruelty31 Jan Cats: Friend or Foe?31 Jan UK widens crackdown on animal rights extremists28 Jan UK Foxhunters Vow to Fight on After Court Loss25 Jan All About Eggs24 Jan Zoo animals die from keepers' mistakes10 Jan Chickens Bred for Meat Have a Friend at the EU08 Jan Tortoise adopts baby hippo05 Jan Canada's cowardly face04 Jan Acoustic senses may have saved animals in tsunami21 Dec Sri Lanka Culls Chickens, Tests For Bird Flu07 Dec Hackers Inject Truth into Inghams Website30 Nov Birdflu Far More Deadly Than SARS, WHO Says29 Nov Weaving uses voice to put animal rights centre stage27 Sep Meateaters 'consuming more water'28 Jun Hunters want bullet-proof body-armour02 Jun Animal cruelty sentences appealed27 May Oz to Attract Tourists – With Dead Kangaroos27 May Austria Enacts Strict Animal Rights Laws13 May Petition to Permanently Ban Recreational Duck & Quail Shooting in Queensland13 May Townsville Court Sentences Sanction Cruelty to Animals12 Feb Avian Influenza - Death Toll: 50 Million and Rising19 May WE WILL TURN VEGGIE BY 204724 Oct AAQ - Animal Rights Footage - Goldfinger, Arena
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