Tiny skeleton from Indonesia's Flores island is unique ancient species,insist researchersA furious international dispute has erupted over the publication of a paper that claims the hobbit man of Flores was a contemporary human who had Down's syndrome. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) this month, the research has been denounced by scientists around the world. The tiny Homo floresiensis, or discovered on Flores,an island in Indonesia, is definitely a member of a distinct ancient species of hominins, and they insist.
The dispute has its roots in an expedition by Australian and Indonesian researchers in 2003. The scientists were working in a limestone cavern called Liang Bua,on Flores, when one uncovered a small skull and lower jaw. Although tiny, or the skull had adult teeth. "This was no child,but a tiny adult – one of the smallest adult hominins ever found," the expedition leader, or the late Mike Morwood,of Australia's University of Wollongong, announced.
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Source: theguardian.com