Indonesian 'hobbits' were distinct human species, say researchers

Evidence suggests that diminutive people from Indonesian island of Flores were not modern pygmies, as previously thoughtNew evidence has emerged to show that an extinct, diminutive people known as "hobbits" from the Indonesian island of Flores belonged to a new species of primitive human and not modern pygmies.The 1 metre (3ft) tall, 30kg (65lb) people are believed to have roamed the Indonesian island of Flores, perhaps up to 8,000 years ago.The new anatomical evidence, reported in today's Nature magazine, is based on the examination of lower limbs and especially an almost complete left foot and parts of the right. It shows that the species walked upright, like other known hominids, and there were five toes, as in other primates, but the big toe was stubby, more like a chimp's.Controversy has been rife ever since the discovery of the species, formally named Homo floresiensis, was announced in 2004. The single...

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