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Homo floresiensis Brown et al., 2004

Hobbit/s, Flores people (proposed)

 

 

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

 

 

Conservation Status

Extinct

Last record: 60kya (fossils); 50kya (stone artefacts) (both Sutikna et al., 2016)

 

Distribution

Endemic to Flores, Indonesia

 

Biology & Ecology

 

 

Hypodigm

 

 

Media

 

 

References

Original Scientific Description:

Brown, P., Sutikna, T., Morwood, M. J., Soejono, R. P., Jatmiko, Wayhu Saptomo, E. and Rokus Awe Due. (2004). A new small-bodied hominin from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia. Nature 431(7012): 1055-1061. [Abstract]

 

Other references:

Aiello, L. C. (2010). Five years of Homo floresiensis. Am. J. Phy. Anthropol. [b]142[/b]: 167-179.

Argue, Debbie. (2022). Little Species, Big Mystery: The Story of Homo floresiensis. Carlton, Victoria: Melbourne University Press.

Argue, Debbie, Donlon, D., Groves, Colin P. and Wright, R. (2006). Homo floresiensis: Microcephalic, pygmoid, Australopithecus, or Homo? J Hum Evol [b]51[/b]: 360-374.

Argue, Debbie, Groves, Colin P., Lee, Michael S. Y. and Jungers, William L. (2017). The affinities of Homo floresiensis based on phylogenetic analyses of cranial, dental, and postcranial characters. Journal of Human Evolution 107: 107-133. [Abstract]

Argue D, Morwood MJ, Sutikna T, Jatmiko, Saptomo EW. (2009). Homo floresiensis: a cladistic analysis. J Hum Evol 57: 623-639.

Ayala, Francisco J. and Cela-Conde, Camilo J. (2017). Processes in Human Evolution: The Journey from Early Hominins to Neandertals and Modern Humans (second edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press. [reprinted with corrections in 2018]

Baab, Karen L. and McNulty, Kieran P. (2009). Size, shape, and asymmetry in fossil hominins: The status of the LB1 cranium based on 3D morphometric analyses. J Hum Evol [b]57[/b]: 608-622.

Baab, Karen L., McNulty, Kieran P. and Harvati, Katerina. (2013). Homo floresiensis Contextualized: A Geometric Morphometric Comparative Analysis of Fossil and Pathological Human Samples. PLoS ONE 8(7): e69119.

Balzeau, Antoine Balzeau and Charlier, Philippe. (2016). What do cranial bones of LB1 tell us about Homo floresiensis? Journal of Human Evolution 93: 12-24. [Abstract]

Barash, Alon, Bastir, Markus and Been, Ella. (2015). 3D Morphometric Study of the Mandibular Fossa and Its Implication for Species Recognition in Homo erectus. Advances in Anthropology 5: 152-163.

Bromham, Lindell and Cardillo, Marcel. (2007). Primates follow the ‘island rule’: implications for interpreting Homo floresiensis. Biology Letters 3: 398–400.

Brown, Peter. (2012). LB1 and LB6 Homo floresiensis are not modern human (Homo sapiens) cretins. Journal of Human Evolution 62(2): 201-224. [Abstract]

Brown, P. and Maeda, T. (2009). Liang Bua Homo floresiensis mandibles and mandibular teeth: A contribution to the comparative morphology of a new hominin species. J. Hum. Evol. [b]57[/b](5): 571-596.

Brumm, A., Aziz, F., van den bergh, G. D., Morwood, M. J., Moore M. W., Kurniawan, I., Hobbs, D. R. and Fullagar, R. (2006). Early stone technology on Flores and its implications for Homo floresiensis. Nature [b]441[/b]: 624-628.

A. Brumm , G.M. Jensen , G.D. van den Bergh , M.J. Morwood , I. Kurniawan , F. Aziz & M. Storey. (2010). Hominins on Flores, Indonesia, by one million years ago. Nature 464: 748-752. [relevant citation?]

Cook, R. W., Vazzana, A., Sorrentino, R., Benazzi, S., Smith, A. L., Strait, D. S. and Ledogar, J. A. (2021). The cranial biomechanics and feeding performance of Homo floresiensis. Interface Focus 11: 20200083. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2020.0083

Cropper, Robert. (2009). The Homo floresiensis controversy. Kraken 2: 29-39.

Helen De Cruz, Johan De Smedt. (2013). The value of epistemic disagreement in scientific practice. The case of Homo floresiensis. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, Part A, 44(2): 169-177. [Abstract]

Robin W. Dennell, Julien Louys, Hannah J. O'Regan, David M. Wilkinson. (2014). The origins and persistence of Homo floresiensis on Flores: biogeographical and ecological perspectives. Quaternary Science Reviews 96: 98-107. [Abstract]

Diniz-Filho, José Alexandre Felizola and Raia, Pasquale. (2017). Island Rule, quantitative genetics and brain–body size evolution in Homo floresiensis. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Biological Sciences 284(1857). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1065 [Abstract]

Eckhardt, R. and Henneberg, Maciej. (2010). LB1 from Liang Bua, Flores: Craniofacial Asymmetry Confirmed, Plagiocephaly Diagnosis Dubious, Am J Phys Anthrop 143(3): 331-334.

Eckhardt, R., Henneberg, Maciej, Chavanaves, Sakdapong, Weller, Alexander S. and Hsü, Kenneth J. (2015). Reply to Westaway et al.: Mandibular misrepresentations fail to support the invalid species Homo floresiensis. PNAS 112(7): E606.

Robert B. Eckhardt, Maciej Henneberg, Alex S. Weller, and Kenneth J. Hsü. (2014). Rare events in earth history include the LB1 human skeleton from Flores, Indonesia, as a developmental singularity, not a unique taxon. PNAS 111(33): 11961-11966. [Abstract]

Falk, D. et al. (2007). Brain shape in human microcephalics and Homo floresiensis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA [b]104[/b]: 2513-2518.

Falk D, Hildebolt C, Smith K. et al. (2006). Response to comment on 'The Brain of LB1, Homo floresiensis'. Science 312: 999c.

Falk D, Hildebolt C, Smith K, Jungers WL, Larson SG, et al. (2009). The type specimen (LB1) of Homo floresiensis did not have Laron syndrome. Am J Phys Anthropol 140: 52-63.

Falk, D., C. Hildebolt, K. Smith, M.J. Morwood, T. Sutikna, P. Brown, Jatmiko, E. Wayhu Saptomo, B. brunsden & F. Prior, F. (2005). The brain of LB1, Homo floresiensis. Science [b]308[/b]: 242-245.

Falk, D. et al. (2009). LB1’s virtual endocast, microcephaly, and hominin brain evolution. J. Hum. Evol. 57: 597-607.

Feeney, Kristina M. (2017). Phylogenetic Affinities of Homo floresiensis incorporating postcranial characters. Thesis, the City University of New York.

Flohr, Stefan. (2018). Did the assumed partial skeleton LB1 (aka Homo floresiensis) really have long feet? Anthropologischer Anzeiger. DOI: 10.1127/anthranz/2018/0770 [Abstract]

Gaffney, Dylan. (2020). Pleistocene Water Crossings and Adaptive Flexibility Within the Homo Genus. Journal of Archaeological Research 29: 255-326.

A. Gómez-Robles 2016. The dawn of Homo floresiensis . Nature 534: 188-189.

Gordon, A. D., Nevell, L. and Wood, B. (2008). The Homo floresiensis cranium (LB1): Size, scaling, and early Homo affinities. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA [b]105[/b]: 4650–4655.

Susan Hayes, Thomas Sutikna, Mike Morwood. (2013). Faces of Homo floresiensis (LB1). Journal of Archaeological Science 40(12): 4400-4410. [Abstract]

Maciej Henneberg, Robert B. Eckhardt, Sakdapong Chavanaves, and Kenneth J. Hsü. (2014). Evolved developmental homeostasis disturbed in LB1 from Flores, Indonesia, denotes Down syndrome and not diagnostic traits of the invalid species Homo floresiensis. PNAS 111(33): 11967-11972. [Abstract]

Hennenberg, Maciej and Schofield, John. (2008). The Hobbit Trap: Money, Fame, Science and the Discovery of a 'New Species'. Kent Town: Wakefield Press. 176 pp.

Henneberg, Maciej and Thorne, A. (2004). Flores may be pathological Homo sapiens. Before Farming 4: 2–4.

I. Hershkovitz, L. Kornreich, Z. Laron. (2007). Comparative skeletal features between Homo floresiensis and patients with primary growth hormone insensitivity (Laron syndrome). Am J Phys Anthropol. 2007 Oct;134(2):198-208.

Holloway, R. L., Schoenemann, T. and Monge, J. (2010). The hobbit brain: Some doubts about its “derived features”. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 141(S50): 130.

Ihara, Yasuo et al. (2020). A demographic test of accidental versus intentional island colonization by Pleistocene humans. Journal of Human Evolution 145: 102839. [Abstract]

Jacob, R., R. P. Soejono, K. Hsü, D.W. Frayer, R.B. Eckhardt, A.J. Kuperavage, A. thorne, Henneberg, A and Henneberg, M. (2006). Pygmoid australomelanesian Homo sapiens skeletal remains from Liang Bua, Flores: population affinities and pathological abnormalities. Proceedings of The national academy of sciences of the United states of america [b]103[/b]: 13421-13426.

Jungers, William L. (2013). Homo floresiensis, pp. 582-598. In: Begun, David R. (ed.). A Companion to Paleoanthropology. Wiley-Blackwell. 648 pp. [Abstract]

Jungers, William L. and Baab, Karen. (2009). The geometry of hobbits: Homo floresiensis and human evolution. Significance 6(4): 159-164.

Jungers, William L., Farke A, Sutikna T, Ruff C, Shackelford L, et al. (2010) Long-bone geometry and skeletal biomechanics in Homo floresiensis. Am J Phys Anthropol 141: 137.

Jungers, William L., Harcourt-Smith WEH, Wunderlich RE, Tocheri MW, Larson SG, et al. (2009) The foot of Homo floresiensis. Nature 459: 81-84.

Jungers, William L. et al. (2009). Descriptions of the lower limb skeleton of Homo floresiensis. J. Hum. Evol. [b]57[/b]: 538–554

Kaifu, Y. et al. (2009). Brief communication: “Pathological” deformation in the skull of LB1, the type specimen of Homo floresiensis. Am J Phys Anthropol [b]140[/b]: 177-185.

Yousuke Kaifu, Hisao Baba, Thomas Sutikna, Michael J. Morwood, Daisuke Kubo, E. Wahyu Saptomo, Jatmiko, Rokhus Due Awe, Tony Djubiantono. (2011). Craniofacial morphology of Homo floresiensis: Description, taxonomic affinities, and evolutionary implication. Journal of Human Evolution 61(6): 644-682. [Abstract]

Kaifu Y, Kono RT, Sutikna T, Saptomo EW, Jatmiko ., Due Awe R. (2015). Unique Dental Morphology of Homo floresiensis and Its Evolutionary Implications. PLoS ONE 10(11): e0141614.

Kubo D, Kono RT, Kaifu Y (2013) Brain size of Homo floresiensis and its evolutionary implications. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 280.

Laitman, Jeffrey T. (2017). Extreme cousins of ours who are no more: From massive Gigantopithecus to diminutive Flores “hobbits”. The FASEB Journal 31(1): Supplement 86.4. [Abstract]

Larick, Roy and Ciochon, Russell L. (2015). Early hominin biogeography in Island Southeast Asia. Evolutionary Anthropology 24(5): 185-213. [Abstract]

Larson, S. G., Jungers, W.L., Morwood, M.J., Sutnika, T., Jatmiko, Saptomo, E.W., Due, R.A., Djubiantono, T. (2007a). Homo floresiensis and the evolution of the hominin shoulder. Journal of Human Evolution 53: 718-731.

Larson SG, Jungers WL, Morwood MJ, Sutikna T, Jatmiko, etal. (2007b) Misconceptions about the postcranial skeleton of Homo floresiensis. Am J Phys Anthropol 132: 151 [abstract].

Larson, S. G. et al. (2009). Descriptions of the upper limb skeleton of Homo floresiensis. J. Hum. Evol. [b]57[/b]: 555–570.

Lieberman, Daniel E. (2009). Palaeoanthropology: Homo floresiensis from head to toe. Nature [b]459[/b]: 41-42.

Lin, Sam C. et al. (2022). Characterising the stone artefact raw materials at Liang Bua, Indonesia. Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology 5: 22.

Luong, Susan et al. (2018). Incorporating terpenes, monoterpenoids and alkanes into multiresidue organic biomarker analysis of archaeological stone artefacts from Liang Bua (Flores, Indonesia). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 19: 189-199.

Lyras GA, Dermitzakis MD, Van der Geer AAE, Van der Geer SB, De Vos J. (2009). The origin of Homo floresiensis and its relation to evolutionary processes under isolation. Anthropological Science 117: 33-43.

Madison, Paige. (2023). Tug-of-War: Bones and Stones as Scientific Objects in Postcolonial Indonesia. Isis 114(1): 77-98.

Martin, R. D., A.M. MacLarnon, J.L. Phillips, L. Dussubieux, P.r. Williams and W.B. Dobyns. (2006). Comment on “the brain of lB1, Homo floresiensis”. Science [b]312[/b]: 999b.

Martin, R. D., Maclarnon, A. M., Phillips, J. L. and Dobyns, W. B. (2006). Flores hominid: New species or microcephalic dwarf? Anat. Rec. A, Discov. Mol. Cell. Evol. Biol. [b]288[/b]: 1123-1145.

Meijer, H.J.M., van den Hoek Ostende, L.W., van den Bergh, G.D. and de Vos, J. (2010). The fellowship of the hobbit: the fauna surrounding Homo floresiensis. Journal of Biogeography 37(6): 995-1006.

Montgomery, Stephen H. (2013). Primate brains, the ‘island rule’ and the evolution of Homo floresiensis. Journal of Human Evolution 65(6): 750-760. [Abstract]

Montgomery, S. H. and Mundy, N. I. (2013). Parallel episodes of phyletic dwarfism in callitrichid and cheirogaleid primates. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. doi: 10.1111/jeb.12097 [Abstract]

Moore MW, Sutikna T, Jatmiko, Morwood MJ, Brumm A. Continuities in stone flaking technology at Liang Bua, Flores, Indonesia. J Hum Evol. 2009; 57: 503–526.

Morwood, Mike J. and Jungers, W. L. (2009). Conclusions: Implications of the Liang Bua excavations for hominin evolution and biogeography.Journal of Human Evolution 57: 640-648.

Morwood, Mike J. and van Oosterzee, Penny. (2007a). The Discovery of the Hobbit: The Scientific Breakthrough that Changed the Face of Human History. Milsons Point: Random House Australia.

Morwood, Mike J. and van Oosterzee, Penny. (2007b). A New Human: The Startling Discovery and Strange Story of the "Hobbits" of Flores, Indonesia. Washington DC: Smithsonian Books. 272 pp.

Morwood, Mike J., Soejono, R. P., Roberts, R. G., Suktina, T., Turney, C. S. M., Westaway, K. E., Rink, W. J., Zhao, J. X., Van Den Bergh, G. D., Due, Rokus Awe, Hobbs, D. R., Moore, M. W., Bird, M. I. and L.K. Fifield, L. K. (2004). Archaeology and age of Homo floresiensis, a new hominin from Flores in eastern Indonesia. Nature [b]431[/b]: 1087-1091.

Morwood, M. J., P. Brown, Jatmiko, T. Sutikna, E. Wahyu Saptomo, K.E. Westaway, Rokus Awe Due, R.G. Roberts, T. Maeda, S. Wasisto and T. Djubiantono. (2005). Further evidence for small-bodied hominins from the late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia. Nature [b]437[/b]: 1012-1017.

Neubauer, Fernanda. (2014). A Brief Overview of the Last 10 Years of Major Late Pleistocene Discoveries in the Old World: Homo floresiensis, Neanderthal, and Denisovan. Journal of Anthropology 2014(581689): 1-7.

Obendorf PJ, Oxnard CE, Kefford BJ (2008) Are the small human-like fossils found on Flores human endemic cretins? Proc Royal Soc B 275: 1287-1296.

Orr CM, Tocheri MW, Burnett SE, Awe RD, Saptomo EW. (2013). New wrist bones of Homo floresiensis from Liang Bua (Flores, Indonesia). Journal of Human Evolution 64: 109-129.

Oxnard, C., Obendorf, P. J. and Kefford, B. J. (2010). Post-cranial skeletons of hypothyroid cretins show a similar anatomical mosaic as Homo floresiensis. PLoS ONE 5:e13018.

Quintyn, Conrad B. (2019). Three High Profile Genus Homo Discoveries in the Early 21st Century and the Continuing Complexities of Species Designation: A Review—Part II. Sociology and Anthropology 7(6): 277-288.

Rathbone, Christopher. (2018). Homo floresiensis: Where Does It Stand?, pp. A30. Paleoanthropology Society Meeting Abstracts, Austin, TX, 10-11 APRIL 2018. PaleoAnthropology 2018: A1-A40.

Richards, G. D. (2006). Genetic, physiologic and ecogeographic factors contributing to variation in Homo sapiens: Homo floresiensis reconsidered. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 19: 1744-1767.

Roberts, David L. et al. (2023). Homo floresiensis and Homo luzonensis are not temporally exceptional relative to Homo erectus. Journal of Quaternary Science.

Seymour, Roger S., Bosiocic, Vanya and Snelling, Edward P. (2016). Fossil skulls reveal that blood flow rate to the brain increased faster than brain volume during human evolution. R. Soc. Open Sci. 3: 160305.

Smith, Dwight and Mangiacopra, Gary. (2007). The Hobbits of Flores: A New Genus of Hominid – Parahomo. In: Heinselmann, Craig (ed.). Elementum Bestia: Being an Examination of Unknown Animals of the Air, Earth, Fire and Water. CRYPTO. 265 pp.

Srinivasan, Amrutha. (2020). A reevaluation of the phylogenetic tree for the genus Homo: a reclassification based on contemporary evidence. Honours thesis, University of Texas.

Sutikna, Thomas. (2016). New archaeological research at Liang Bua on the island of Flores: implications for the extinction of Homo floresiensis and the arrival of Homo sapiens in eastern Indonesia. Thesis, University of Wollongong. [Abstract]

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Thomas Sutikna, Matthew W. Tocheri, Michael J. Morwood, E. Wahyu Saptomo, Jatmiko, Rokus Due Awe, Sri Wasisto, Kira E. Westaway, Maxime Aubert, Bo Li, Jian-xin Zhao, Michael Storey, Brent V. Alloway, Mike W. Morley, Hanneke J. M. Meijer, Gerrit D. van den Bergh, Rainer Grün, Anthony Dosseto, Adam Brumm, William L. Jungers & Richard G. Roberts. (2016). Revised stratigraphy and chronology for Homo floresiensis at Liang Bua in Indonesia. Nature. doi:10.1038/nature17179 [Abstract]

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Vannucci, Robert C., Barron, Todd F. and Holloway, Ralph L. (2013). Frontal brain expansion during development using MRI and endocasts: relation to microcephaly and Homo floresiensis. The Anatomical Record 296(4): 630-637.

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http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110105/full/news.2011.702.html

http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110808/full/news.2011.466.html

http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100317/full/464335a.html

http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090506/full/news.2009.448.html

http://media.uow.edu.au/releases/UOW138254.html

http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/2917/20130711/new-study-confirms-status-homo-species.htm

https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=lang_en&id=1OU-DgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=neanderthalensis&ots=nLldtQQMmi&sig=IKu0dybMDxRmNLyYDbc9KVn-avI#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2142681/aha-moment-when-hobbit-fossil-was-dug-indonesian-archaeologist-stunning

http://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/8312/hobbit-homo-floresiensis-prehistoric-dwarf

 

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