An October 2004 news headline in Nature magizine proclaimed, "Little Lady of Flores Forces Rethink of Human

An October 2004 news headline in Nature magizine proclaimed, "Little Lady of Flores Forces Rethink of Human Evolution." The article describes the discovery of the bones of at least 5 extremely small people on the island of Flores in Indonesia, by a team of Ausralian and Indonesian scientists. These individuals lived about 18,000 years ago--so recently that thier bones have not yet fossilized. They have been given the scientific name Homo floresiensis ("Flores man").


According to the article, the people stood about three feet tall and had skulls the size of a grapefruit. They didnt have the physical features common among modern humans (Homo sapiens) with dwarfism. Nor do they appear to be related to early hominids, because thier teeth, skuls, and legs have characteristics that are more similar to modern humans than than they are to our ancient relitives. Instead, the researchers concluded that Homo floresiensis is a separate human spieces that has grown smaller through years of evoluti

An October 2004 news headline in Nature magizine proclaimed, "Little Lady of Flores Forces Rethink of Human
Unfortunately, the original fossils found during the expedition were smashed. The proponents of Homo floresiensis as a separate blaim the scientists who assert that the bones were just stunted humans. Those who support the stunted human interpretation blame the Homo floresiensis supporters for destroying the evidence.





And the Indonesian government has refused to allow further research in the area.
Reply:I believe there is controversy as to whether or not this is a different species or the "island effect" but other species have been found to be "holdouts" in isolated places.



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