corrente: Dwarf Human Species found
Via many places, but Corrente will do. Apparently, on an island in Indonesia is evidence for the first documented evolutionary evidence for dwarfism in Humans.
Dwarfism, of course, in the sense of a species evolving toward smaller sizes in response to a cramped living spaces--ie. islands.
Although dwarf elephants, and even mammoths have been discovered, this is the first time we've found this in Genus Homo.
Methinks the human family tree was once far more diverse than people think, with several species of "humans" running around at one time or another. It's NOT been a linear process at all.
Its also NOT surprising, given the nature of our species, that Homo Sapiens is the only survivor of this diversity.
Good analysis, too, on Carl Zimmer's blog.
Posted by Jvstin at October 28, 2004 9:48 AM