How has the discovery of Homo floresiensis challenged ideas about human evolution?

Question

We've been given a list of possible essays which could come up in my anthropology exam, and I'm having a bit of trouble finding info. I've found that it was previously thought that no other Homo species shared the earth with Homo sapiens for 40000 years or so, but can anyone give me any more information? Thanks!

Answer 1

You will find some good info here.

Here's the anstract:

This article follows the hobbit controversy from when the species Homo floresiensis was first announced up to

recent developments. Various theories on the nature of the hobbit are considered, with the author taking the

view that Homo floresiensis is not a new species, but rather that the skull of the hobbit most likely belonged to

a human suffering a pathological condition called microcephaly.

http://creationontheweb.com/images/pdfs/...

Much info on this topic comes with the religious bias of evolutionists - h**l bent on proving we evolved from an ape.

But I don't suppose you will be allowed to be free-thinking enough to challenge evolutionary dogma.

Answer 2

It doesn't really challenge ideas about evolution. Island biography  hypothesis predicts that when a species is isolated it will dwarf. That is basically what has happed to Homo floresiensis.

Answer 3

Until the H. floresiensis carpal (wrist) bones were found the "Out of Africa replacement" crowd loudly proclaimed this to be a H. sapien with a genetic defect.  The fact that erectus evolved the modern wrist ~800,000 yrs ago has quieted some of the critics, but not all. Floresiensis obviously evolved from ancient H. erectus & bones indicate they existed 12 to 14,000 yrs ago.

The "regional" hypothesis of human evolution has gained some ground in the ongoing debate about how humans evolved, but the Afro-centric view still has a large following. Mungo man (Discovered at lake Mungo in Australia) has been "redated" at ~40,000 yrs ago & artifacts as ~50,000 (1st dating was 60,000) & while the nearly complete skeleton appears to be sapien, MtDNA tests as closer to neandertal than to sapien. Thus suggesting Mungo man is a sapien/erectus hybrid... or that he at least has some erectus genes from the matriarchial line.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/slab/mungo...

http://www.convictcreations.com/aborigin...

Due to sapien fossils ~125,000 yrs old being found in Israel, it is probable that sapien left Africa & the Mid East much longer ago than 40 to 50,000 yrs ago, as suggested by the "out of Africa replacement crowd". Therefore the discoveries on Flores have added to our knowledge, but intensified & confused the debate on Human evolution.

"The powerful & the stupid have one thing in common, they don't alter their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views."

Note that creationists will never accept facts & will continue to distort them to fit their narrow minded agenda. As I pointed out, the carpal bones rule out some simple genetic defect, but creationists will continue to distort information in hopes of making it fit their their ignorant views.

http://anthropology.net/2007/09/24/homo-...

http://sci.waikato.ac.nz/bioblog/archive...

Answer 4

There were many stages and substages of Homo Erectus creatures that have never been found.

Any new discovery just verifies man's suspicion as to how and how fast man evolved.

I don't know of any changes in the evolution chain of discovery, but something new is bound to come up and surprise even the most seasoned anthropologist from time to time.

Answer 5

no, our last common ancestor diverged 400,000 odd years ago.

Answer 6

It hasn't.