Skeptics Question Whether Flores Hominid Is a New Species

摘要

When a research team announced last month that it had found a new species of 18,000-year-old tiny human in a cave on the Indonesian island of Flores, it seemed almost too amazing to be true (Science, 29 October, p. 789). Now a small but vocal group of scientists argues that the skeleton dubbed Homo floresiensis is actually a modem human afflicted with microcephaly, a deformity characterized by a very small brain and head. Meanwhile, an Indonesian scientist who also challenges the skeleton's status has removed the skull to his own lab for study. But members of the original team of Australian and Indonesian scientists staunchly defend their analysis, and outside experts familiar with the discovery are unmoved by the critique.