In October 2004 excavation of fragmentary skeletal remains from the island of Flores in Indonesia yielded what was called “the most important find in human evolution for 100 years.” Its discoverers dubbed the find Homo floresiensis, a name suggesting a previously unknown species of human.
Now detailed reanalysis by an international team of researchers suggests that the single specimen on which the new designation depends, known as LB1, does not represent a new species. Instead, it is the skeleton of a developmentally abnormal human and, according to the researchers, contains important features most consistent with a diagnosis of Down syndrome. Initial descriptions of Homo floresiensis focused on LB1′s unusual anatomical characteristics: a cranial volume reported as only 380 millilitres (23.2 cubic inches), suggesting a brain less than one third the size of an average modern human’s and short thighbones, which were used to reconstruct a creature standing 1.06 meters (about 3.5 feet tall).
Although LB1 lived only 15,000 years ago, comparisons were made to earlier hominins, including Homo erectus and Australopithecus. Other traits were characterized as unique and therefore indicative of a new species.
A thorough reexamination of the available evidence in the context of clinical studies suggests a different explanation according to findings in two papers published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, where the researchers build the case for an alternative diagnosis: that of Down syndrome, one of the most commonly occurring developmental disorders in modern humans.
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