Do hobbits really exist?

After watching The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Trilogy, you must be deeply impressed by the hobbit dwarfs in the film. So, have you ever wondered: Is it possible that Hobbit Dwarves really exist somewhere on the earth?

Let's listen to the opinions of scientists first.

Lindel Bromham and Marcel Cadurau, evolutionary zoologists in Imperial College London, London, UK, published an article in the April 2007 issue of Biological Communication, saying that the "Hobbit" in the film may be a member of primitive humans, but it was only due to evolutionary pressure that it evolved into a short stature. In other words, the dwarfs in the film do exist in the history of human evolution.

If the "dwarf" really exists, what is the evidence?

In 2003, scientists from Australia and Indonesia discovered a prehistoric "dwarf" human fossil that lived about 1.8 million years ago on Flores Island, a remote tropical island belonging to Indonesia, and its height was only about 1 meter.

At first, scientists judged that it might be the remains of an ancient child. However, they soon noticed that the teeth of fossils were badly worn. Subsequent three-dimensional imaging showed that the woman was at least 30 years old when she died. The brain capacity of this fossil is similar to that of grapefruit, only one third of that of modern people. Combined with its height, scientists believe that this fossil is a new species that has never been discovered before, and this newly discovered human group is called "flores". They came to this island about 80,000 years ago.

From June 5, 2004 to 10, scientists reported this discovery in the journal Nature. Some experts believe that this is the most important discovery of paleoanthropology in the past 50 years, and this breakthrough discovery will make the scientific community rethink the process of human evolution.

What does Flores, who is a dwarf with the Hobbit, look like?

Dr. S.Hayes, an expert in face research at the University of Wollongong, Australia, used the approximate facial reconstruction method in forensic medicine to restore the facial morphology of a female flores. Female Flores have high cheekbones, long ears and a wide nose. Judging from the skeletal characteristics, flores people are very primitive, like early humans two or three million years ago, but their restored appearance is more like modern people.

Is it really a "dwarf" or a "cerebellar malformation" patient?

This fossil belongs to a new species-"flores". Once the research results were published, it caused great controversy in academic circles. Some skeptical scientists believe that this female fossil may be the remains of a member of the Dwarf clan, and this woman may be a patient with cerebellar malformation, so her brain capacity is low.

According to Nature magazine, scientists and fossil discoverers from many research institutions in the United States used computer X-ray tomography to scan fossil skulls, and then made a "Flores" brain model based on the scanned images. Then, scientists compared the model with the brain models of chimpanzees, Homo erectus, dwarves, Homo sapiens and a patient with cerebellar malformation. Judging from the brain structure, the owner of the fossil is not a patient with cerebellar malformation, which proves the scientific value of flores fossils.

What caused Flores to be so short?

Some researchers believe that "flores people" may be descendants of "Homo erectus" who migrated from nearby Java Island. However, why they become so short is a difficult problem that scientists have always wanted to know. According to Peter Brown of university of new england, Australia, this may be because the area of loris Island is only 3 1 square mile, and its resources are very limited. Being smaller can not only consume less energy, but also dissipate heat more easily, which makes them more suitable for the local hot and humid climate.

Does Flores still exist?

At the end of 2004, Katie Hasbenz, an anthropologist from Southeast Asia, disclosed to the American media that the last batch of Indonesian "dwarfs" died out hundreds of years ago and were burned alive by local villagers in traps. She said: "The local villagers call these' dwarfs' Ibrahimovic Gogo. They are short, have long hair and long arms, and can speak simple languages. "

However, some scientists believe that the story of "Ibrahim Gogo" is just a folklore. However, Professor richard roberts, an archaeologist who discovered the fossil of "Dwarfs", suspects that there are still some dwarfs living in the rainforest of Flores Island. He said: "According to the villagers, the last time the local people saw the' dwarf' was shortly before the arrival of Dutch colonists in the19th century. In order to prove whether there is a' dwarf' on the island, it is necessary to conduct a thorough search for caves in the local rainforest. " In addition, many scientists infer that "dwarf" and modern "Homo sapiens" once met in loris Island. Therefore, these scientists are more convinced that "flores" and other similar races may still exist in some remote areas of the world.

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After scientific research, some scientists believe that a new species, Flores, has emerged in the evolution of human history, just like in the movie "The Hobbit Dwarf", living in a remote tropical island that belonged to Indonesia tens of thousands of years ago-Flores Island. But whether Flores still exists now needs further scientific investigation and research.

(Author: Liu Hongjuan)