FOXSYLVANIA

– – If you like your early human species small, you may want to consider Homo  floresiensis, a tiny species of extinct humans nicknamed “hobbits” that grew to an adult height of no more than three feet and existed and lived for tens of thousands of years in Indonesia before dying out about 17,000 years ago.

H. floresiensis possessed unusual anatomical characteristics as a function of their complete isolation on a remote island home such as long toes, flat feet,  and a small head. The species walked easily on two legs, but likely found it difficult to run at speed.  First unearthed in 2004 in a cave on the island of Flores, they were initially thought to be suffering from a pathological condition such as microcephaly, but are now felt to be a true human species which evolved as the outcome of living on a remote island for so long…

This entry was posted on May 11, 2009 at 2:17 am and is filed under extinct species, science. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.