[asa] H. floresiensis

While I am trying to get my friend Dick Fischer up to speed on anthropology,
I thought I would post this on H. floresiensis. Some anthropologists are
trying to say that H. floresiensis is a microencephalic rather than a new
species. There are several arguments against that position. First, the
brain doesn't look like that of a micro-encephalic. Secondly, there are
about 10 H. floresiensis' found now, and that means that one must have a
whole village of microencephalics--something not seen. And third,
microencephalic skulls do not look like H. floresiensis.

One of the most laughable claims was made 2 weeks ago in Nature
magazine,when Robert Martin of the Field Museum claimed that H. floresiensis
is a microencephalic. It was in an article Michale Hopkin, "Is the Flores
hobbit a deformed Homo sapiens?" Martin published a picture of one. I have
reproduced it at http://home.entouch.net/dmd/microencelphalicSkull.jpg.

He went up against Dean Falk, a person who you don't want to debate agains.
She published the No side of the question and then showed the skull of H.
floresiensis and said: "As for the microcephalic human from Lesotho
(pictured on left), compare that with LB1 (above). They do not look alike."
see http://home.entouch.net/dmd/Hfloresiensis.jpg

It is amazing to me that people can make claims of microencephaly with a
straight face and use data like Martin does which is so easily refuted. The
two skulls simply don't look alike. H. floresiensis is not a
microencephalic.

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Received on Tue Jun 13 22:39:13 2006