Hot Topics in Biology

Homo floresiensis

November 4, 2004

The discovery of remains belonging to a new short-statured, human-like species is causing a stir among anthropologists. The new species is named Homo floresiensis, after the Indonesian island (Flores Island), east of Java, where the skeleton of a three-foot tall adult female was discovered. The diminutive skeleton shares several important characteristics with modern humans, Homo sapiens, including a small, delicate face, small teeth, and adaptations for walking on two legs. Members of the Homo floresiensis species apparently also created and used tools, a particularly surprising discovery given the smaller size of their brains. However, the skeleton also displays some features typical of Homo erectus, the closest known relative to Homo sapiens. The remains have been dated to only 18,000 years ago, but investigators hypothesize that ancestors of Homo floresiensis may have reached the island as long as one million years ago.

This exciting discovery is described in two articles in volume 431 of the journal, Nature. The following Nature news stories (on BioEd Online) summarize the research reports and provide various points of view on how Homo floresiensis will reshape thinking about human evolution.

Critics silenced by scans of hobbit skull

Comparisons with pygmies and chimps bolster new species claim.

The Flores Find

Mike Morewood and Peter Brown answer questions about archaeologists' reactions to the discovery of a dwarfed homonin species in Flores, Indonesia, and about how implications of this surprising find has impacted their theories and ideas about human evolution.

Little Lady of Flores Forces Rethink of Human Evolution

The discovery in Indonesia of a new human-like species, a dwarfed homonin, that dates back to only 18,000 years ago has caused archeologists to ponder what else might yet be undiscovered.

Flores, God and Cryptozoology

The discovery of Homo floresiensis supports the idea that human evolution is like a bush, with many simultaneously existing branches, rather than a long ladder of new species emerging one after the other. Researchers suggest this discovery could be the first of many.

A Stranger from Flores

Distinctive combinations of features, in conjunction with other archeological evidence related to the newly discovered hominin on the island of Flores, has prompted researchers to give the specimen a new name, Homo floresiensis.