Skull Of ‘Hobbit’ Proves It Was A Different Species

The three-foot human "hobbit" who lived on the Indonesian island of Flores more than 13,000 years ago had a sophisticated brain which was rewired internally to compensate for its small size, a study has found.

An internal cast of the brain case shows that the hobbit possessed rare cranial features that would probably have conferred unusual intelligence on such a small creature, scientists said.

The findings pour cold water on the idea that the hobbit was not a new species of human but an ordinary person suffering from microcephaly, a disease that causes stunted growth and small brain size.

Ever since scientists announced in 2004 that they had discovered the skull and partial skeleton of a tiny human female on Flores, experts have argued about whether she belonged to new species of human or was just someone born with microcephaly.

The latest study confirms beyond any reasonable doubt that the Flores skull belongs to a new species who was probably intelligent enough to make and use the tiny stone tools found alongside the bones, said Professor Dean Falk of Florida State University in Tallahassee. "It's as definitive as it can be. We feel that we've answered the questions raised by the people who contend that the hobbit is a microcephalic," Professor Falk said. "People refused to believe that someone with a brain that small could make the tools. How could it be a sophisticated new species?"

The volume of the hobbit's brain is only 417 cubic centimetres, about a third of the size of a normal adult. Some scientists said that such a small brain would not be able to carry out the tasks of tool making and tool using associated with being human.