Homo Obscurum
Fortuitous. Tomorrow we spend one class period discussing the Primates to complete our survey of the animal kingdom. Early in the chapter appears the following statement regarding current theories of human origins.
"... the small number of skeletal remains and the incomplete nature of most of them make it difficult to amass enough evidence...to be convincing."
I've certainly seen ideas of when and where Homo sapiens arose shift all over the map in thirty years. And now, just today, I read of the discovery of a new species of primate, probably a hominid that was still around 18,000 years ago, genetically isolated on a tropical island with limited resources. They are three feet tall "with a head the size of a grapefruit" and have already been nicknamed the "Hobbits." They say bits of six individuals were found in one cave. I guess my first question is, can you extrapolate from one genetic cluster, perhaps a family in one cave to a conjecture that this is a new species?
The remains are not fossilized. Possibly, DNA can be extracted and molecular comparisons will bear clues. But there will likely be disputes over how this find is to be interpreted. Surely, it will step on the dainty toes of somebody's pet theory and spawn yet another scientific dichotomy. Never a dull moment.