Scientists hope for more hominids<\/p>\n
Agencies, London<\/p>\n
In an astonishing discovery that could rewrite the history of
\nhuman evolution, scientists say they have found the skeleton of a
\nnew human species, a dwarf, marooned for eons in a tropical Lost
\nWorld while modern man rapidly colonized the rest of the planet.<\/p>\n
The finding on a remote Indonesian island has stunned
\nanthropologists like no other in recent memory. It is a
\nfundamentally new creature that bears more of a resemblance to
\nfictional, barefooted hobbits than modern humans.<\/p>\n
The scientists said in a journal Nature on Wednesday that they
\nfound the skull and incomplete skeleton of a creature known as
\nLB1 in the sediments of a limestone cave at Liang Bua on the
\nremote island of Flores in Indonesia last September.<\/p>\n
Since then, fragments of bone from at least seven individuals
\nhave been found.<\/p>\n
The partial skeleton of Homo floresiensis -- which is believed
\nto be 18, 000 year-old -- found in a cave on the island of
\nFlores, is of an adult female that was a meter (3 feet) tall, had
\na chimpanzee-sized brain and was substantially different from
\nmodern humans.<\/p>\n
\"It is an extraordinarily important find,\" Professor Chris
\nStringer, of the Natural History Museum in London, told a news
\nconference on Wednesday. \"It challenges the whole idea of what it
\nis that makes us human.\"<\/p>\n
Peter Brown of the University of New England in Armidale,
\nAustralia, and his Indonesian colleagues made the discovery of
\nthe skull and other bones, and miniature tools in September 2003
\nwhile looking for records of modern human migration to Asia. They
\nreported the finding in the Nature.<\/p>\n
\"Finding these hominins on an isolated island in Asia, and
\nwith elements of modern human behavior in tool making and
\nhunting, is truly remarkable and could not have been predicted by
\nprevious discoveries,\" Brown said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Local legends tell of hobbit-like creatures existing on
\nislands long ago but there has been no evidence of them.<\/p>\n
The hominin family tree, which includes humans and pre-humans,
\ndiverged from the chimpanzee line about 7 million years ago.
\nEarly African hominins walked upright, were small and had tiny
\nbrains.<\/p>\n
The new species, dubbed \"Flores man\", is thought to be a
\ndescendent of Homo erectus, which had a large brain, was full-
\nsized and spread out from Africa to Asia about 2 million years
\nago.<\/p>\n
The new species became isolated on Flores and evolved into its
\ndwarf form to conform with conditions, such as food shortages.<\/p>",
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