Hobbits 'are a separate species' 矮人族“是一个独立的物种”

Scientists have found more evidence that the Indonesian "Hobbit" skeletons belong to a new species of human - and not modern pygmies.

科学家发现了更多的证据证明印尼“矮人族”的骨架属于人类的新分支 ，而不是现代侏儒。

The Hobbit's foot is in many ways quite primitive¹

The 3ft (one metre) tall, 30kg (65lbs) humans roamed（漫游，闲逛） the Indonesian island of Flores, perhaps up to 8,000 years ago.

Since the discovery, researchers have argued vehemently²（热烈地） as to the identity of these diminutive³（小的，小型的） people.

Two papers in the journal Nature now support the idea they were an entirely⁴ new species of human.

The team, which discovered the tiny remains⁵ in Liang Bua cave on Flores, contends that the population belongs to the species Homo floresiensis - separate from our own grouping Homo sapiens（智人）.

They argue that the "Hobbits" are descended⁶ from a prehistoric⁷（史前的） species of human - perhaps Homo erectus - which reached island South-East Asia more than a million years ago.

Over many years, their bodies most likely evolved to be smaller in size, through a natural selection process called island dwarfing⁸（矮化病）, claim the discoverers, and many other scientists.

However, some researchers argued that this could not account for the Hobbit's chimp（黑猩猩）-sized brain of almost 400 cubic cm - a third the size of the modern human brain.

Disease theory

This was a puzzle, they said, because the individuals seem to have crafted complex stone tools.

They said the Hobbits were probably part of a group of modern humans with abnormally small brains.

One team led by William Jungers from Stony⁹ Brook¹⁰ University in the US analysed remains of the Hobbit foot.

They found that, in some ways, it is incredibly human. The big toe is aligned¹¹（对齐的，均衡的） with the others and the joints¹² make it possible to extend the toes as the body's full weight falls on the foot, attributes not found in great apes.

But in other respects, it is incredibly primitive（原始的）. It is far longer than its modern human equivalent（等价的，想等的）, and equipped with a very small big toe, long, curved lateral¹³ toes, and a weight-bearing structure that resembles that of a chimpanzee（黑猩猩）.

So unless the Flores Hobbits became more primitive over time - a rather unlikely scenario¹⁴（情节，剧本） - they must have branched off the human line at an even earlier date.

In another study, Eleanor Weston and Adrian Lister of London's Natural History Museum looked at fossils of several species of ancient hippos（河马）. They then compared those found on the island of Madagascar with the mainland ancestors from which they evolved.

"It could be that H. floresiensis' skull¹⁵ is that of a Homo erectus（直立人） that has become dwarfed¹⁶ from living on an island, rather than being an abnormal individual or separately-evolved species, as has been suggested," said Dr Weston, a palaeontologist at the museum.

"Looking at pygmy（矮人，侏儒） hippos in Madagascar, which possess exceptionally small brains for their size, suggests that the same could be true for H. floresiensis , and that (it could be) the result of being isolated¹⁷ on the island."