Editing Human evolution (section)

=== ''H. floresiensis'' ===
{{Main|Homo floresiensis}}
[[File:Homo floresiensis v 2-0.jpg|thumb|200px|A facial reconstruction of ''Homo floresiensis''|left]]
''H. floresiensis'', which lived from approximately 190,000 to 50,000 years [[before present]] (BP), has been nicknamed the ''[[hobbit]]'' for its small size, possibly a result of [[insular dwarfism]].<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=P. |last2=Sutikna |first2=T. |last3=Morwood |first3=M. J. |last4=Soejono |first4=R. P. |last5=Jatmiko |first5=A. |last6=Wayhu |first6=S. E. |last7=Awe Due |first7=R. |author3-link=Mike Morwood |author4-link=Raden Panji Soejono |date=October 28, 2004 |title=A new small-bodied hominin from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=431 |issue=7012 |pages=1055–1061 |bibcode=2004Natur.431.1055B |doi=10.1038/nature02999 |issn=0028-0836 |pmid=15514638 |s2cid=26441 |url= http://doc.rero.ch/record/15287/files/PAL_E2586.pdf |access-date=January 3, 2023 |archive-date=January 3, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230103195019/http://doc.rero.ch/record/15287/files/PAL_E2586.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> ''H. floresiensis'' is intriguing both for its size and its age, being an example of a recent species of the genus ''Homo'' that exhibits derived traits not shared with modern humans. In other words, ''H. floresiensis'' shares a common ancestor with modern humans, but split from the modern human lineage and followed a distinct evolutionary path. The main find was a skeleton believed to be a woman of about 30 years of age. Found in 2003, it has been dated to approximately 18,000 years old. The living woman was estimated to be one meter in height, with a brain volume of just 380&nbsp;cm<sup>3</sup> (considered small for a chimpanzee and less than a third of the ''H.&nbsp;sapiens'' average of 1400&nbsp;cm<sup>3</sup>).<ref name=":0" />

However, there is an ongoing debate over whether ''H.&nbsp;floresiensis'' is indeed a separate species.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal |last1=Argue |first1=Debbie |last2=Donlon |first2=Denise |last3=Groves |first3=Colin |author3-link=Colin Groves |last4=Wright |first4=Richard |date=October 2006 |title=''Homo floresiensis'': Microcephalic, pygmoid, ''Australopithecus'', or ''Homo''? |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |volume=51 |issue=4 |pages=360–374 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.04.013 |issn=0047-2484 |pmid=16919706 |bibcode=2006JHumE..51..360A}}</ref> Some scientists hold that ''H. floresiensis'' was a modern ''H. sapiens'' with pathological dwarfism.<ref name="Martin">{{cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=Robert D. |author1-link=Robert D. Martin |last2=Maclarnon |first2=Ann M. |last3=Phillips |first3=James L. |last4=Dobyns |first4=William B. |date=November 2006 |title=Flores hominid: New species or microcephalic dwarf? |journal=The Anatomical Record Part A: Discoveries in Molecular, Cellular, and Evolutionary Biology |volume=288A |issue=11 |pages=1123–1145 |doi=10.1002/ar.a.20389 |issn=1552-4884 |pmid=17031806 |doi-access=free}}</ref> This hypothesis is supported in part, because some modern humans who live on [[Flores]], the Indonesian island where the skeleton was found, are [[Pygmy peoples|pygmies]]. This, coupled with pathological dwarfism, could have resulted in a significantly diminutive human. The other major attack on ''H. floresiensis'' as a separate species is that it was found with tools only associated with ''H. sapiens''.<ref name="Martin" />

The hypothesis of pathological dwarfism, however, fails to explain additional [[Homo floresiensis#Anatomy|anatomical features]] that are unlike those of modern humans (diseased or not) but much like those of ancient members of our genus. Aside from cranial features, these features include the form of bones in the wrist, forearm, shoulder, knees, and feet. Additionally, this hypothesis fails to explain the find of multiple examples of individuals with these same characteristics, indicating they were common to a large population, and not limited to one individual.<ref name=":1" />

In 2016, fossil teeth and a partial jaw from hominins assumed to be ancestral to ''H.&nbsp;floresiensis'' were discovered<ref name="Callaway2016b">{{cite journal |last=Callaway |first=E. |title='Hobbit' relatives found after ten-year hunt |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=534 |issue=7606 |date=June 8, 2016 |pages=164–165 |doi=10.1038/534164a |pmid=27279191 |bibcode=2016Natur.534Q.164C |doi-access=free}}</ref> at [[Mata Menge]], about {{cvt|74|km}} from Liang Bua. They date to about 700,000 years ago<ref name="Brumm2016">{{cite journal |last1=Brumm |first1=A. |last2=van den Bergh |first2=G. D. |last3=Storey |first3=M. |last4=Kurniawan |first4=I. |last5=Alloway |first5=B. V. |last6=Setiawan |first6=R. |last7=Setiyabudi |first7=E. |last8=Grün |first8=R. |last9=Moore |first9=M. W. |last10=Yurnaldi |first10=D. |last11=Puspaningrum |first11=M. R. |last12=Wibowo |first12=U. P. |last13=Insani |first13=H. |last14=Sutisna |first14=I. |last15=Westgate |first15=J. A. |last16=Pearce |first16=N. J. G. |last17=Duval |first17=M. |last18=Meijer |first18=H. J. M. |last19=Aziz |first19=F. |last20=Sutikna |first20=T. |last21=van der Kaars |first21=S. |last22=Flude |first22=S. |last23=Morwood |first23=M. J. |display-authors=4 |title=Age and context of the oldest known hominin fossils from Flores |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=534 |issue=7606 |date=June 8, 2016 |pages=249–253 |pmid=27279222 |doi=10.1038/nature17663 |bibcode=2016Natur.534..249B |s2cid=28608179 |url= http://pure.aber.ac.uk/ws/files/9400924/Brumm_et_al_2016_Age_stratigraphic_context_hominin_fossils_Flores_NAture_DRAFT_MS.pdf |access-date=November 11, 2021 |archive-date=March 6, 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200306112537/http://pure.aber.ac.uk/ws/files/9400924/Brumm_et_al_2016_Age_stratigraphic_context_hominin_fossils_Flores_NAture_DRAFT_MS.pdf |url-status=live}}{{collapsible list |title=Full list of authors |bullets=true |Adam Brumm |Gerrit D. van den Bergh |Michael Storey |Iwan Kurniawan |Brent V. Alloway |Ruly Setiawan |Erick Setiyabudi |Rainer Grün |Mark W. Moore |Dida Yurnaldi |Mika R. Puspaningrum |Unggul P. Wibowo |Halmi Insani |Indra Sutisna |John A. Westgate |Nick J. G. Pearce |Mathieu Duval |Hanneke J. M. Meijer |Fachroel Aziz |Thomas Sutikna |Sander van der Kaars |Stephanie Flude |Michael J. Morwood}}</ref> and are noted by Australian archaeologist Gerrit van den Bergh for being even smaller than the later fossils.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=van den Bergh |first1=G. D. |last2=Kaifu |first2=Y. |last3=Kurniawan |first3=I. |last4=Kono |first4=R. T. |last5=Brumm |first5=A. |last6=Setiyabudi |first6=E. |last7=Aziz |first7=F. |last8=Morwood |first8=M. J. |title=''Homo floresiensis''-like fossils from the early Middle Pleistocene of Flores |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=534 |issue=7606 |date=June 8, 2016 |pages=245–248 |doi=10.1038/nature17999 |pmid=27279221 |bibcode=2016Natur.534..245V |s2cid=205249218}}</ref>