Hobbits ( Homo Floresiensis ) did not exist.

According to the following article, our recent discovery of what we thought was a humanoid sub species...
Homo Floresiensis did not exist.

The fossils found showed evidence of dwarf growth, do to a lack of cretin which is needed for growth.

We therefore conclude that LB1 and LB6, at least, are, most likely, endemic cretins from a population of unaffected Homo sapiens. This is consistent with recent hypothyroid endemic cretinism throughout Indonesia, including the nearby island of Bali.

Source :
Post-Cranial Skeletons of Hypothyroid Cretins Show a Similar Anatomical Mosaic as Homo floresiensis


This is probably the reason why there are so many Pygmy tribes in the area. Even Pygmy tribes from Africa can ... I understand African forest elephants travel to the same place every year, apparently for resources not present in their normal diet.

Anyway... I think it is to bad.... I liked the idea of a hobbit man...
The truth is out, or so it seems...

We can now focus on new subjects to study and new discoveries to be made... Unfortunately

What do you tink about this ?

Kind regards

~Sinter

PS
I'm not really sad about it... It's just... well... Because !

reply to post by Sinter Klaas


Hey SK! Well the "most likely" part means they are not 100% sure, no?
I am curious too about the disorder endemic cretinism. Could it have spread enough to affect all the inhabitants uniformly? I could understand some or even many being struck, but all?
I have grown skeptical of "findings and conclusions," particularly when it comes to something that may challenge our current understanding of things and history. Not saying I don't believe the research, just curious about the conclusions at this point.

spec

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


I read the article originally in Dutch. The English source is a little difficult IMO.

It said that the cretin shortage is because of Sodium a form of salt. The Mineral simply isn't present on the Island.
So yes this includes all of them and it isn't a disorder.

reply to post by Sinter Klaas

Thanks for the clarification SK, guess Hobbits can only exist in lore and fantasy.
Peace,
spec

Originally posted by Sinter Klaas
It said that the cretin shortage is because of Sodium

There's a cretin shortage?

We have plenty here. Do they need some of ours?

Harte

On an island situation over time reptiles tend to get bigger and some mammals get smaller. What ever the cause I am sure there will always be people who believe they the hobbits are a separate species, it is just more fun.

reply to post by threadkiller

On an island situation over time reptiles tend to get bigger and some mammals get smaller.

Yeah amazing isn't it ? Like the pygmy elephants of the Mediterranean or the Komodo dragon.
Not only size has effected island dwellers. Birds tend to loose their ability to fly, like the extinct Dodo or the Kiwi, although this happens as they do not have any predators on the island, while size is more of a nutrition thing.

What ever the cause I am sure there will always be people who believe they the hobbits are a separate species, it is just more fun.

You are right it is more fun. Look at the amount of replies on this thread.... Nobody wants to know about stuff that shatters their ideas of the world, and how it looks.

I'm sorry I'm replying you so long after your post, but thank you for sharing your thoughts.

A little more investigation into the background of the authors shows why the thing was printed in PLOS and why it is counter to other opinion.

Charles Oxnard, for instance, has "shown" that the skeleton of Australopithecus resembles that of an orangutang. Now... I know orangutang skeltons and I've seen Lucy and other Australopithecus skeletons, and you have to be very nearsighted with an extreme case of astigmatism to come to this conclusion.

Kefford is an environmental biologist: salinesystems.org...

Obendorf's only other paper was with "Are the small human-like fossils found on Flores human endemic cretins? " with the same group of suspects, suggesting that the hobbits were cretins. None of them examined the original material, and both papers use statistical methods to prove their point.

The authors of the papers that this trio took their measurements from are incensed at the misinterpretation of the original data:
www.scientificamerican.com...

For the record, I agree that the hobbit IS a distinct species and is NOT a cretin/genetic abnormality. As harsh as life was back then, the mentally deficient didn't live very long.

Which ever way one wants to view it - they clearly existed.
Calling anything a seperate "species of man" in the last 100 000 years or so is a bit of stretch in any case.
Some groups were just shaped somewhat differently because they were seperated from others by the environment.
It seems we all carry many mutations in our DNA (and we are all mutants in some sense) and maybe that says something on how adaptable our bodies were in a harsh hunter-gatherer lifestyle.

reply to post by Byrd


Thanks !

I was a bit disappointed actually.

Reply to halfoldman


It was about them being a separate species. Nobody was claiming the didn't exist at all.

Anyway...

According to Byrd the guy isn't really reliable.

Just so people can see why I was so skeptical of the lead author (who is frequently cited by creationists), here is the skeleton of an orangutan:
www.skullsunlimited.com...

Same skeleton disarticulated (since Lucy's skeleton is disarticulated)
www.skullsunlimited.com...

And here's Lucy:
articulated (compare with the first orangutan skeleton)
www.boneclones.com...

Disarticulated:
en.wikivisual.com...

Things that the comparative anatomist first notices: The shape of the hips are different. Lucy's are short (the wings of the pelvis) while the orangutan's pelvic bones are long and tall. Joint at the lower end of the upper arm is very wide for the orangutan (since they're knuckle-walkers and tree-swingers) -- Lucy's is the same proportion as a human's (and we don't knuckle walk or hang from trees.) Lower arm bones are more slender. When the upper leg is fitted into the pelvis, human legs angle (kinda knock-kneed) while orangutan upper legs are directly underneath it.

The teeth are clearly human:
www.boneclones.com...

BTW, there's more than one skeleton of Australopithecus Afarensis (Lucy's type), so the "argument from ignorance" that there wasn't enough material is not sufficient.

From a creationist standpoint, classifying the Hobbits as deformed humans means you avoid the idea of macro evolution.

This paper presents a hypothesis. It makes predictions at the end but the evidence has yet to be found that would validate those predictions. Until such time as they are this isn't proof of anything so don't get disheartened just yet.

And it only takes someone to find a coat of mithril for this paper to be blown out of the water