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February 20, 2006
Small Man, Big Find
This is intriguing:
Alias [Kuwi], 32, [an Orang Asli], said that he and his friends have seen "hantu bojok", which resembles humans and is not hairy like Bigfoot."They're small in size, and we've seen them many times, we've seen them catch fish, but when they see us, they run," he said. [Bernama via mStar]
These "small people" must be really small to be described as such by the Orang Asli, who are generally short in stature.
Now take a look at this finding by Australian and Indonesian scientists in 2003:
Homo floresiensis ("Man of Flores") is a species in the genus Homo, remarkable for its small body, small brain, and survival until relatively recent times.It is thought to have been contemporaneous with modern humans (Homo sapiens) on the Indonesian island of Flores. One sub-fossil skeleton, dated at 18,000 years old, is largely complete.
It was discovered in deposits in Liang Bua Cave on Flores in 2003.
Parts of eight other individuals, all diminutive, have been recovered as well as similarly small stone tools from horizons ranging from 94,000 to 13,000 years ago.
The first of these fossils was unearthed in 2003; the publication date of the original description is October 2004; and confirmation of species status is expected to appear soon, following the March 2005 publication of details of the brain of Flores Man. [Wikipedia]
How small? Well, the near complete remains of what is believed to have been a 30-year-old female stands only about one metre tall.
Are there living Homo floresiensis in the jungles of Johor?
It would be worth finding out.
Posted by aisehman at February 20, 2006 03:22 PM
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Comments
This scenario is very unlikely. It is fairly impossible for this group to have been isolated and missed for last 100 years, let alone last 15,000 and that what it would have taken for them to remain isolated and different, without ever coming into contact with the many many waves of migration through.
Also the conditions are not similar, there is no enviromental pressure for them to stay so small. Whereas the hobbit bones found were also found with minature Elephants suggesting that the populations were under environmental stress and lack of food and resources, forcing a downwards pressure on size. Though other evolutionary forces may have been at play.
Posted by: View from Above at February 22, 2006 12:41 PM