"Hobbit" (Homo floresiensis) artist's reconstruction.

"A male Homo floresiensis may have looked something like this"
(Image: National Geographic) -- BBC

Homo floresiensis

"Hobbit"

eight individuals

Homo floresiensis -- Wikipedia
Cf. "Java Man" -- Wikipedia

search on JSTOR

Lonely Planet . . .
~ Indonesia
~Flores
~ map

Encarta interactive map

World FactBook -- Indonesia

slides

"Hobbit" (Homo floresiensis) skull.

"LB1, the Homo floresiensis type specimen, found at a depth of 5.9m in the limestone cave of Liang Bua on Flores, Indonesia."
(Image: Peter Brown)

"LB1 was an adult female that stood just one metre in height"
(Image: National Geographic) -- BBC

"When a new fossil is found it is often claimed that it will rewrite the anthropological textbooks. But in the case of an astonishing new discovery from Indonesia, this claim is fully justified." -- Chris Stringer

Hobbits 'are a separate species' -- BBC News (6 May 2009)

"Hobbits" Were Separate Species, Skull Suggests - National Geographic News (2009-01-23)

1 - 'Hobbit' Skull Study Finds Hobbit Is Not Human - Science Daily (2009-01-21)

Skull study evidence of 'hobbit' species, claims US anthropologist - Guardian (2009-01-08)

on order:

Alien from Earth

NOVA Alien from Earth HomePage

Series: NOVA
Closed captioned: Yes
Described Video: Yes
56 min on 1 DVD

NOVA presents an exclusive new investigation into the sensational discovery of the bizarre ancient bones of the so-called "Hobbit" unearthed in a cave on the island of Flores, Indonesia. No more than 3 feet tall when fully grown, these tiny humans survived in the cave for tens of thousands of years, hunting the huge and fierce Komodo dragons that roamed their remote island home. In Alien from Earth. NOVA explores the latest evidence in a furious scientific debate on what the Hobbit bones represent. Are they the remains of a dwarf race of modern humans suffering from a strange disease? Or are they the unique and tantalizing testament to a previously unknown branch of the human family? Special DVD features include: materials and activities for educators; a link to the NOVA Web site; scene selections; closed captions; and described video for the visually impaired. On one DVD5 disc. Region coding: Region 1. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: 16:9 Anamorphic.

Watch a Preview

Watch online

TV Program Description

Program Transcript

Links & Books

Teacher's Guide

Program Participants

From Anthropology in the News, Texas A&M Anthropology
(5 May 2008)

Tempest in a Hobbit Tooth Science (4/24/08)

Henneberg claims about the teeth of Homo floresiensis are untrue Peter Brown

Bones may be from distinct species: Scientists say the "little people" of Indonesia aren't humans with a disorder -- Minneapolis Star-Tribune / New York Times ( 23 September 2007, p. A17)

BBC 'Hobbit' Wrists 'Were Primitive'
BBC News (9/20/07)

From Anthroplogy in the News, Texas A&M (3/28/08)

Hobbit Skull Suggests a Separate Species Science (3/17/08)
- Humanlike 'Hobbit' Fossils Puzzle Scientists NPR (3/18/08)

From Anthroplogy in the News, Texas A&M
(20 March 2008)

Pacific "Dwarf" Bones Cause Controversy Nature (3/10/08)

Ancient Bones of Small Humans Discovered in Palau National Geographic News (3/10/08)
Ancient Small Humans' Bones Found on Island National Geographic News (3/10/08)
VIDEO: Ancient Little People Found? National Geographic News (3/10/08)
Hobbit or Human? New Doubts Raised MSNBC (3/10/08)
Tiny Palau Skeletons Suggest "Hobbits" Were Dwarfs Reuters (3/10/08)
Micronesian Islands Colonized By Small-bodied Humans Science Daily (3/11/08)
New Bones Suggest 'Hobbits' Were Modern Pygmies New Scientist (3/11/08)
Hobbit Redux? Science (3/11/08)
Were Fossil 'Hobbits' Just Little Humans? Wired (3/11/08)
Discovery Challenges Finding of a Separate Human Species New York Times (3/11/08)
Pygmy Human Remains Found on Rock Islands Guardian (3/12/08)
Island Find Stirs Hobbit Debate BBC News (3/12/08)
Small-Bodied Humans from Palau, Micronesia PLoS ONE

From Anthroplogy in the News, Texas A&M
(24 September 2007)

Wrist Bones Bolster Hobbit Status Nature (9/20/07)

"Hobbit" Human Was Unique Species, Wrist Bones Suggest National Geographic News (9/20/07)
Case Grows for 'Hobbit' as Human Ancestor NPR (9/20/07)
Hobbits of Indonesia Were Different Human Species Telegraph (9/20/07)
Evidence in Hand That 'Hobbit' Was Not a Modern Human LiveScience (9/20/07)
The Hobbit: Not Human? Discovery News (9/20/07)
'Hobbit' Wrist Bones Suggest a Distinct Species New Scientist (9/20/07)
Scientists Say 'Hobbit' Was Not Modern Human MSNBC (9/20/07)
Yes, It's a Hobbit. The Debate That Has Divided Science Is Solved at Last (Sort of) Guardian (9/21/07)
Study Says Bones Found in Far East Are of a Distinct Species New York Times (9/21/07)
Wrist Bones Show Hobbit Wasn't Modern Human CNN (9/21/07)
Scientists: Hobbit Wasn't a Modern Human Los Angeles Times (9/21/07)

From Anthroplogy in the News, Texas A&M
(5 March 2008)

Hobbit Was 'a Cretin' Nature (3/4/08)

Heated Hobbit Debate Takes New Turn With Thyroid Theory Guardian (3/5/08)
New Twist in Hobbit-Human Debate BBC News (3/5/08)
Dwarf Cretins Add to 'Hobbit' Debate Telegraph (3/5/08)
Indonesian Fossils Belonged to Diet-Poor Dwarfs Reuters (3/5/08)
Is the Hobbit Just a Dwarf Cretin? Australian Broadcasting Corp (3/5/08)
Flores Hobbits Were Stunted Humans Register (3/5/08)
Dwarf Cretins or New Human Species: Two Academic Tribes Go to War Sydney Morning Herald (3/5/08)

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Comparison of "Hobbit" skull and skull of Homo sapiens.

"The skull of
Homo floresiensis
can only hold a brain that's about 380 cc. in size."

"The modern human skull [at left] holds a brain that measures between 1,400 and 1,500 cc."

(Peter Brown)

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Stone tools excavated from the Hobbit home in Flores.

Stone tools excavated from the Hobbit home in Flores

(Image: Mike Morwood)

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FLORES MAN -- Nature.com
- Little lady of Flores forces rethink of human evolution -- Rex Dalton
- Flores, God and Cryptozoology -- Henry Gee
- The Flores find -- Michael Hopkin (interview: Peter Brown, who led the analysis, and Mike Morwood, who directed the Flores dig, give their reflections)
- A stranger from Flores -- Chris Stringer (analysis)
Hobbit -- Homo floresiensis -- Ellie Crystal
'Hobbit' joins human family tree -- Scientists have discovered a new and tiny species of human that lived in Indonesia at the same time our own ancestors were colonising the world -- BBC
Scientists Find Ancient Hobbit-Sized People Skeletal Remains Reveal Human Species That Measured 3-Feet High -- ABC News
"Hobbit" Discovered: Tiny Human Ancestor Found in Asia -- National Geographic News
"Hobbit was 'not a diseased human'" -- BBC
Indonesia may be teeming with Hobbits -- ABC News in Science
Indonesian scientist says Flores hominid not new species -- Yahoo News
Experts split over human Hobbit remains -- ABC News in Science
Flores, God and Cryptozoology:The discovery of Homo floresiensis raises hopes for yeti hunters and, says Henry Gee, poses thorny questions about the uniqueness of Homo sapiens -- (27 October 2004) -- Nature News
Little People of Flores -- Nova scienceNOW

Miniature People Add Extra Pieces to Evolutionary Puzzle -- The New York Times
The Mystery of the Human Hobbit: An Exciting new Discovery, or an Embarrassing Blunder? -- from the BBC "Horizon" series
Our not so distant relative -- The Guardian
ZooBot Blog

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Homo sapiens

Early Human Phylogeny -- National Museum of Natural History

Times to Remember

top of page

Genus

Species

Variety

Alternative Name

Example

Homo

sapiens

heidelberg-
ensis

"Archaic"

Heidelberg, Steinheim, Swanscombe, Kabwe, etc.

Neanderthal-
ensis ?

Neandertal

Homo floresiensis ?

"Hobbit"

sapiens
(prehistoric)

Prehistoric
"Early Moderns"

Cro-Magnon, Border Cave, Qafzeh, etc.

sapiens
(contemporary)

Contemporary
"Moderns"

UMD Students

Special Case: Piltdown

Adapted from Intoduction to Physical Anthropology, 8th ed, Jurmain, Nelson, Kilgore, and Trevathan
(Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2000, pp. 285 - 290).

Discover

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© 1998 - 2009 Timothy G. Roufs
Page URL: http:// www.d.umn.edu /cla/faculty/troufs/anth1602/pchobbit.html
Last Modified 21 June 2009
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