http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6311619.stm
"Hobbit" is a new species
"Hobbit" is a new species
'You just said "your getting shorter": you've obviously been drinking too much ent-draught and not enough Prim's.' - Jude
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Primula Baggins
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That's fascinating, Mahima! Thanks for posting that.
So they come from a different branch than us. And it's amazing that they apparently had higher brain functions in those very little brains, because they weren't wired like ours.
It's thrilling to me to read that they apparently survived until about 12,000 years ago—didn't the early reports say the humans on the island had stories about little people? To think that an entirely different sentient humanoid species lived side by side with Homo sapiens until almost the dawn of recorded history. . . . It makes my little science-fiction-writer heart go pitty-pat!
So they come from a different branch than us. And it's amazing that they apparently had higher brain functions in those very little brains, because they weren't wired like ours.
It's thrilling to me to read that they apparently survived until about 12,000 years ago—didn't the early reports say the humans on the island had stories about little people? To think that an entirely different sentient humanoid species lived side by side with Homo sapiens until almost the dawn of recorded history. . . . It makes my little science-fiction-writer heart go pitty-pat!
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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ToshoftheWuffingas
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Primula Baggins
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Yes, the eagles saved them. But they're all in Tol Eressëa now. 
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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superwizard
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truehobbit
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Wow!
I read the story of the discovery of those bones on TORC two years or so ago, and saw a quite fascinating documentation about them a while ago.
Something else that I found fascinating in the documentary was that the inhabitants of the island apparently have legends about tiny people - so, not only does this present a new species of human, but also a nice example of how folk-tales may evolve from fact...
IIRC, the documentary I saw mentioned that is was difficult to believe that the people should have become small in stature in so short a time - apparently, physical adaptation of a species to its surroundings would take a much longer time. But it's still by far the most interesting of the theories.
I read the story of the discovery of those bones on TORC two years or so ago, and saw a quite fascinating documentation about them a while ago.
Something else that I found fascinating in the documentary was that the inhabitants of the island apparently have legends about tiny people - so, not only does this present a new species of human, but also a nice example of how folk-tales may evolve from fact...
IIRC, the documentary I saw mentioned that is was difficult to believe that the people should have become small in stature in so short a time - apparently, physical adaptation of a species to its surroundings would take a much longer time. But it's still by far the most interesting of the theories.
but being a cheerful hobbit he had not needed hope, as long as despair could be postponed.
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Primula Baggins
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Maybe other folk tales should be looked at more carefully!truehobbit wrote:Something else that I found fascinating in the documentary was that the inhabitants of the island apparently have legends about tiny people - so, not only does this present a new species of human, but also a nice example of how folk-tales may evolve from fact...
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King