Hobbit Brain "Too Small"

Argument continues over the recently discovered remains of Homo floriensis - known technically as LB1 and popularly as the "Hobbit".

The skeletal remains were found in 2003 in Liang Bua cave on the island of Flores by a team led by archaeologist Michael Morwood. In 2004 the team declared them to be a new species that had overlapped with Homo sapiens and outlasted Neanderthal man.

The new species idea has always been controversial. Now Science magazine has published research by biologist Robert Martin of The Field Museum in Chicago. Martin and colleagues believe that LB1's brain was too small to support the dwarven species theory. They point out that "Body size reduction in mammals is usually associated with only moderate brain size reduction".

The Martin team believe that LB1 and friends could have been modern humans suffering from microcephaly - a condition that results in an abnormally small cranium. They conclude that: "LB1 was not an insular dwarf and may have been a microcephalic modern human".

Supporters of the Hobbit theory have in turn criticised the microcephaly theory. The debate looks set to continue.

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