The sensational discovery of what appeared to be the skeleton of a new species of small humans - dubbed hobbits - has been dismissed by a team of scientists.A 3ft skeleton found on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2003 was said to be a new branch of the human family tree and named Homo floresiensis. Scientists dubbed the species "hobbits" after the characters in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, helping to grab newspaper headlines.
But scientists in the United States say a "far more likely explanation" is that the 18,000-year-old remains were of a modern human with the genetic condition micro- cephaly, which reduces the size of the brain and often results in short stature. The condition can also lead to cerebral palsy, epilepsy, impaired sight and hearing, and autism.
The idea of a species of "hobbits" was appealing, partly because island environments can result in the evolution of small versions of various species due to reduced food supplies and fewer predators.
The researchers behind this theory suggested that Homo floresiensis was a descendant of Homo erectus, who lived about 1.8 million years ago.
However, writing in the magazine Science, a team led by Dr Robert Martin, of the Field Museum in Chicago, said that, while selective breeding had reduced the size of some mammals, it had always done so within certain parameters.
Body size could shrink considerably, but the reduction in the size of the brain was always less marked and the hobbit's brain was too small to follow what appeared to be a universal law.
The skeleton was also found alongside sophisticated stone tools that have been associated with modern humans, rather than Homo erectus or any other kind of early hominid.