Did anyone see that special last night?
If you didn't...Fossils of a human were ound in Indonesia-in a cave that were of an adult woman who stood 3.5' tall. Comparing her skeleton and brain to Homo erectus-our direct ancestor she was found to be of the same species but interestingly enough, down sized.
A doctor tried to claim her dwarf stature was the result of a disease except when compared to extant skulls of people with the disease he claimed caused it, there were very obvious differences.
There was a very interesting section in the progam about the specialised evolution that occurs to species isolated on islands. They pointed out that large mammals tend to grow smaller because of the limmited food supply, but small mammals and reptiles grow because of reduced competition.
Examples on this island were a species of elephant that was eight feet tall on the mainland and had shrunk to four foot tall on Flores. On the other end, the monitors had increased in size to over twenty feet in length (modern dinosaur?)
Further credibility to this new find was made when local residents (who had not seen the fossil described a race of little people their ancestors had wiped out in a war-in the caves under the main volcano of Flores. Further evidence of their extinction came fom the heavy (3') ash layer that was over their bones-sign of a major volcanic event.
Seven of these people have now been found-with their weapons(spears)-so this is no higher ape, but a true Human.
Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."
