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''Homo floresiensis'' ("Flores Man"; nicknamed "hobbit" and "Flo") is an extinct species widely believed to be in the genus ''Homo''. The remains of an individual that would have stood about in height were discovered in 2003 on the island of Flores in Indonesia. Partial skeletons of nine individuals have been recovered, including one complete skull, referred to as "LB1".〔Brown ''et al.'' 2004〕〔Morwood, Brown ''et al.'' 2005〕 These remains have been the subject of intense research to determine whether they represent a species distinct from modern humans. This hominin is remarkable for its small body and brain and for its survival until relatively recent times (possibly as recently as 12,000 years ago).〔Morwood, Soejono ''et al.'' 2004〕 Recovered alongside the skeletal remains were stone tools from archaeological horizons ranging from 94,000 to 13,000 years ago. Some scholars suggest that the historical ''H. floresiensis'' may be connected by folk memory to ebu gogo myths prevalent on the isle of Flores.〔Gregory Forth, (Hominids, hairy hominoids and the science of humanity ), ''Anthropology Today'', Vol. 21 No. 3 (June 2005), pp. 13-17; John D. Hawks, (Stalking the wild ebu gogo ) (June 24, 2005).〕 The discoverers (archaeologist Mike Morwood and colleagues) proposed that a variety of features, both primitive and derived, identify these individuals as belonging to a new species, ''H. floresiensis'', within the taxonomic tribe of Hominini, which includes all species that are more closely related to humans than to chimpanzees.〔〔 The discoverers also proposed that ''H. floresiensis'' lived contemporaneously with modern humans on Flores. Doubts that the remains constitute a new species were soon voiced by the Indonesian anthropologist Teuku Jacob, who suggested that the skull of LB1 was a microcephalic modern human. Two studies by paleoneurologist Dean Falk and her colleagues (2005, 2007) rejected this possibility.〔Falk ''et al.'' 2005〕〔Falk ''et al.'' 2007〕〔''FSU News'' 2007〕 Falk ''et al.'' (2005) has been rejected by Martin ''et al.'' (2006) and Jacob ''et al.'' (2006), but defended by Morwood (2005) and Argue, Donlon ''et al.'' (2006). Two orthopedic researches published in 2007 reported evidence to support species status for ''H. floresiensis''. A study of three tokens of carpal (wrist) bones concluded there were similarities to the carpal bones of a chimpanzee or an early hominin such as ''Australopithecus'' and also differences from the bones of modern humans.〔Tocheri ''et al.'' 2007〕〔''New Scientist'' 2007-09-20〕 A study of the bones and joints of the arm, shoulder, and lower limbs also concluded that ''H. floresiensis'' was more similar to early humans and apes than modern humans.〔Larson ''et al.'' 2007 ((preprint online ))〕〔''Guardian'' 2007-09-21〕 In 2009, the publication of a cladistic analysis〔Argue, Morwood ''et al.'' 2009〕 and a study of comparative body measurements〔Jungers and Baab 2009〕 provided further support for the hypothesis that ''H. floresiensis'' and ''Homo sapiens'' are separate species. Critics of the claim for species status continue to believe that these individuals are ''Homo sapiens'' possessing pathologies of anatomy and physiology. Several hypotheses in this category have been put forward, including that the individuals were born without a functioning thyroid, resulting in a type of endemic cretinism (myxoedematous, ME),〔Obendorf ''et al.'' 2008〕 and that the principal specimen LB1 suffered from Down syndrome.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Did the 'Hobbit' have Down syndrome? )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title="Hobbit" Specimen Likely Down Syndrome - The Skeptics Guide to the Universe )〕 == Discovery == The specimens were discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2003 by a joint Australian-Indonesian team of archaeologists looking for evidence of the original human migration of ''Homo sapiens'' from Asia to Australia.〔〔 They were not expecting to find a new species, and were surprised at the recovery of a nearly complete skeleton of a hominin they dubbed LB1 because it was unearthed inside the Liang Bua Cave. Subsequent excavations recovered seven additional skeletons, dating from 38,000 to 13,000 years ago.〔 An arm bone provisionally assigned to ''H. floresiensis'' is about 74,000 years old. The specimens are not fossilized and have been described as having "the consistency of wet blotting paper"; once exposed, the bones had to be left to dry before they could be dug up.〔Dalton, 2004〕〔Morwood and van Oosterzee 2007〕 Sophisticated stone implements of a size considered appropriate to the 3-foot-tall human are also widely present in the cave. The implements are at horizons from 95,000 to 13,000 years ago and are associated with (found in the same stratigraphic layer as) an elephant of the extinct genus ''Stegodon'' (which was widespread throughout Asia during the Quaternary), presumably the prey of LB1.〔 ''Homo sapiens'' reached the region by around 45,000 years ago.〔''Smithsonian'' July 2008〕 ''Homo floresiensis'' was unveiled on 28 October 2004, and was swiftly nicknamed the "Hobbit", after the fictional race popularized in J. R. R. Tolkien's book ''The Hobbit'', and a proposed scientific name for the species was ''Homo hobbitus''. It was initially placed in its own genus, ''Sundanthropus floresianus'' ("Sunda human from Flores"), but reviewers of the article felt that the cranium, despite its size, belonged in the genus ''Homo''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Homo floresiensis」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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