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 A US-British team of scientists has challenged the
idea that the tiny skeleton from Indonesia dubbed "the Hobbit" is
a new human species.
Writing in Science magazine, the team presents an alternative theory that
the remains could be those of a modern human with a brain disorder.
Their arguments appear in a technical critique of previous research into
the Hobbit brain also published in Science.
The creature stood just 1m (3ft) tall and possessed
a brain size of around 400 cubic centimetres (24 cubic inches) – about
the same as a chimp’s brain. Dating of the sediments around the remains
indicated the Hobbit lived only 18,000 years ago.
from the BBC
This makes a lot of sense. We have long seen evidence
of this phenomenon and speculated privately that the modern predominance
of the "little-brained" humans must have a scientific, evolutionary explanation…..
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