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I had always heard that they were just the result of island dwarfism, so hearing that they potentially were direct descendants of a hominid species other than homo erectus is exciting.
I've been following the small Floresian hominin development over the years too, and this video was an instant click for me. I've got to say, you really nailed the pronunciation for Liang Bua there.
I love when Hank grows more and more intense -- and deservedly so! (I got an ad for Furbies somewhere in there and couldn't help picturing them as part of that missing fossil record)
Great video! To add a lil more context, Theres been a ton of research in the past couple of years looking into why some of be Homo floresiensis characteristics look more archaic. One of the theories is that scaling of limb proportions and body size due to selective pressures are not always linear. This could then produce the more australopithecine-looking proportions while still derived from Homo erectus.
I can't even imagine being the last of your kind, of course you might not think about it that way but if you're living alone on an island and everyone else is gone, that can't be pleasant.
I doubt they knew they were living on an island. The island is not that small. Also, they would not know they were the last one, only the last one within their tribe.
Before starting the video, I'm guessing this is going to be about _Homo floresiensis_ (currently learning about early _Homo_ in my Human Origins class 😂) ***CALLED IT!!!*** The most popular hypothesis is that they were derived from _Homo erectus_ that ended up on the island of Flores in Indonesia via a rafting event. They likely shrunk in size due to insular dwarfism. Smaller mammals have a higher chance of survival on islands, because there are fewer resources and even though there is a lot of organic diversity, there wasn't much of each.
The only thing that could make me more excited about adding to the story of the hobbits would be watching Hank be SO EXCITED telling us the unfolding story of ever more hobbit information!! :D
I think that the story about the guy blocking any research that might prove him wrong is something that deserves more attention. I don't think I need a reference to claim that most research is done by humans, and humans are flawed and easily influenced by factors other than straight-up logical thinking, which is a huge argument in the discussion about the validity of lots of research, especially in areas that are culturally controversial.
Wasnt there a movie of a biologist who went to the island to "birdwatch" but ended up finding living homo florensiensis trying to kill him and his team?
Dungeons and Dragons used to have Hobbits, but shortly after calling them that had to change the name to Halflings. An old computer game series Ultima also had Hobbits in one of the first volumes. Then changed the race name to Bobbits.
A netflix show about it could be so heartwrenching. Especially if we cut back to "footage" of her, thousands of years ago, living her life, and expanding our view of it as the science grows, then cut back to scientists and the way they talk about/treat her. Oh no Im tearing up
There are still Hobbits we just don't use that terminology. Pygmies in Africa used to be the domibant group in Subsaharan Africa before the Bantu expansion 2000 years ago being pushed to East Africa. Due to superstitious beliefs around them having magical powers resulting in the being assaulted or cannibalized resulting in group becoming more marginalized.
Pygmies differ to 'Hobbits' in multiple ways, most notable on average pygmy groups(even flores pygmy's) are 15 inches taller. structurally their different as well.
@@inaaronshead7331 That is correct but I am using the more classical colloquial idea of a hobbit which is used to describe a people group of small stature which would also include the groups that fit the scientific definition. I don't particurally like the term Hobbit by the way even for past groups because of its use in folklore it doesn't have as a respectful connotation but if we strip the connotations they are basically the same thing.
Also ever since it was discovered that some humans have Neanderthal DNA Anthropologist have been working too hard to polish up the image of Neanderthals. Brown bears and polar bears diverged around 600,000 years ago. Meanwhile Neanderthals and modern humans diverged at least 800,000 years ago. Living in such different climates, that's more than enough time for Neanderthals to look very different from humans who remained in the hot savanna and tropics. In my opinion Neanderthal recreations are made to look a lot more human than they actually were. By appearances Neanderthals were must likely wooly with long body hair like the elephant and rhinos that also moved north from Africa. Being hairless is an adaptation to keep cool, its not needed up north. And we know only modern humans used clothing to keep warm because it we know when body lice and pubic lice split into two different species. Its laughable to see men walking around today with more body hair than the Neanderthal recreations we see.
If they were so flippant with the skeletal remains, how do they not know the people removing them did not contaminate the DNA by contact with them, and make them seem more like us? Must find more remains to be sure. Still there are living island little folk today, so it's not that unusual.
@astroplushproductions salty cause you weren't? I'm confused why it matters enough for you to comment that it doesn't. Such action kind of negates the point you're trying to make, doesn't it? Lol
Them Hobbits is still around, they is. I sees them from the island lands walking about the shire round here all the time. Say this with a cheesy cockney accent.
Come to Argentina. Everybody heres a Hobbit. all day round merry around, get some extra food, get something to drink. Ok come to Cordoba actually, u try some fernet, ill get a pipe and we smoke as we party
I just don't like that we called them Hobbits. I just don't think we should name stuff after silly stuff we like. I wouldn't want people in the far future naming my remains after some movie characters. Even if it's something bad ass.
I love how sci show did a horrific episode on ‘sex being a spectrum’ and yet here Hank is calling the skeleton ‘she’ because we can tell sex from ancient skeletons 😂 🤡
Who was the researcher that only invited similarly biased people to research the remains? They should be tried by the court of humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment in solitary confinment. Disgraceful for a scientist to do such a thing.
We know all the creatures who were buried with the dinosaurs (ducks, fish etc) 65 million years ago have not changed, they remain exactly the same, so why are humans the only creature to have evolved during that time period, I’d love a talk on that.
Why wasn't it considered that people were smaller in the past, to begin with? Indonesian people today are not known for being tall, so these being even smaller thousands of years ago would make sense.
Because pretty well all other hominin fossils are much closer to the size of modern humans. Also Homo Floresiensis is very unlikely to be ancestral to any modern human populations.
hey i think i'm knida on the small side of bieing five foot bacly. so i might actaly count a bit. but i also have a drect genttic line all teh way to odin the vikeing king so bacly i can bacly use the spear of gunter fate grand oder style bacsly. if i was in fate grand oder i would bacly be a bit over powered somionig bacly oden the all father being a drerect great ansetor bascly.
Visit brilliant.org/scishow/ to get started learning STEM for free. The first 200 people will get 20% off their annual premium subscription and a 30-day free trial.
Why so many itty bitty Italians in present day?
I had always heard that they were just the result of island dwarfism, so hearing that they potentially were direct descendants of a hominid species other than homo erectus is exciting.
This species truly feels like something out of a fantasy story, yet it’s a real part of our history. Just incredible!
I've been following the small Floresian hominin development over the years too, and this video was an instant click for me. I've got to say, you really nailed the pronunciation for Liang Bua there.
I love when Hank grows more and more intense -- and deservedly so!
(I got an ad for Furbies somewhere in there and couldn't help picturing them as part of that missing fossil record)
Great video! To add a lil more context, Theres been a ton of research in the past couple of years looking into why some of be Homo floresiensis characteristics look more archaic. One of the theories is that scaling of limb proportions and body size due to selective pressures are not always linear. This could then produce the more australopithecine-looking proportions while still derived from Homo erectus.
I can't even imagine being the last of your kind, of course you might not think about it that way but if you're living alone on an island and everyone else is gone, that can't be pleasant.
I doubt they knew they were living on an island. The island is not that small. Also, they would not know they were the last one, only the last one within their tribe.
0:19
What do you mean scishow is more than a decade old???? You take that back right now
Always love hearing how excited you were about a new discovery ☺️
Before starting the video, I'm guessing this is going to be about _Homo floresiensis_ (currently learning about early _Homo_ in my Human Origins class 😂)
***CALLED IT!!!***
The most popular hypothesis is that they were derived from _Homo erectus_ that ended up on the island of Flores in Indonesia via a rafting event. They likely shrunk in size due to insular dwarfism. Smaller mammals have a higher chance of survival on islands, because there are fewer resources and even though there is a lot of organic diversity, there wasn't much of each.
Still lovin' your zesty delivery, Hank❣
This was a nice little video, it cleared up some small confusion and went into minute detail on tiny things. Big success.
Congrats on 8 million subs!
one of the most amazing finds of my life time.
The only thing that could make me more excited about adding to the story of the hobbits would be watching Hank be SO EXCITED telling us the unfolding story of ever more hobbit information!! :D
I think that the story about the guy blocking any research that might prove him wrong is something that deserves more attention. I don't think I need a reference to claim that most research is done by humans, and humans are flawed and easily influenced by factors other than straight-up logical thinking, which is a huge argument in the discussion about the validity of lots of research, especially in areas that are culturally controversial.
They're taking the Hobbits to Liang Bua Cave!
Naturally, I got this as soon as it was posted lol
Same! Clicked on it immediately.
But had they hairy feet?
They may well have had hairy everything.
Second breakfast?
@@aoifedeborha2420 Of course, because of the evidence of her cooking.
4:40 it probably was Rick Moranis with a shrink ray. Honey, I shrunk the neighbourhood. Or to be exact, the whole island.
Loving this "content" about "research". Joking aside, excellent video as always.
😂😂
Very cool, Have we found any skeletons in Isengard
Finally Something to Watch : )
3:24 Same.
Finally some good news 📰
Wasnt there a movie of a biologist who went to the island to "birdwatch" but ended up finding living homo florensiensis trying to kill him and his team?
Dungeons and Dragons used to have Hobbits, but shortly after calling them that had to change the name to Halflings.
An old computer game series Ultima also had Hobbits in one of the first volumes. Then changed the race name to Bobbits.
And Elves and Fuzzies.
Then Lord British went on a genocide spree and the others vanished.
wait...
@@Zeithri No wonder the games make it a challenge to figure out how to do him in. "Yes, that is precisely the thing to do, Avatar."
I have been playing D&D since around 1979, and halflings were called halflings. So when were they supposedly called hobbits?
@@flarvin8945 1978
@@flarvin8945Before Tolkien's estate got on their case and threatened to sue. Balrogs became Balor and Ents Treant.
I think there is a possibility that the Homo Floresiensis might have a connection to the legendary Menehune people.
I came for the hobbies, I stayed for the hank!!
Everyone always talks about H. Floresiensis, but what about H. Luzonensis? Why is she the Jan Brady of the hobit sized humans?
Dang 37 seconds! 😮
A+ with that title. 😉
Rumor his it they still exist staring in underground yakuza videos
I want a miniature elephant.
Long and short of it, but more the short of it.
I feel like saying 50,000 years is not that long needs context but sounds more interesting that way
puns all over the place.
Antropologists can tell A LOT from morphology without looking at DNA.
I got Thumbnail baited and not even mad about it
fun fact, Viggo Mortensen actually broke his foot on that helmet
😂
Hahaha yes!!!
This is gotta be on of the most factuall fact there is
Lol
Fun for whom? 😮
"I was 23, and I read a lot of science news"
Hey, just like me!
cool
same reason I am
But how many times a day did they eat breakfast?
Children of the forest
Thanks. A correction - the right skull in minute 4:28 is of Homo Sapiens, not Erectus.
Why are Pigmies small?
To which they would likely reply, why are you so tall?
Just like the mammoths that were left on that Siberian island...
Hibbitz
How does this all link in with indigenous Australians? Seeing as they have been here for at least 60k years?
Have not the Tolkien estate asserted that you guys should stop using the term "Hobbit" as it is part of a copyrighted work?
A netflix show about it could be so heartwrenching. Especially if we cut back to "footage" of her, thousands of years ago, living her life, and expanding our view of it as the science grows, then cut back to scientists and the way they talk about/treat her. Oh no Im tearing up
!!!!
i’m sorry scishow i only watch when hank is on
There are still Hobbits we just don't use that terminology. Pygmies in Africa used to be the domibant group in Subsaharan Africa before the Bantu expansion 2000 years ago being pushed to East Africa. Due to superstitious beliefs around them having magical powers resulting in the being assaulted or cannibalized resulting in group becoming more marginalized.
Pygmies differ to 'Hobbits' in multiple ways, most notable on average pygmy groups(even flores pygmy's) are 15 inches taller. structurally their different as well.
Many people in Hawaii believe there are tiny people living there too. The Hawaiians I heard interviewed are afraid of them too.
@@inaaronshead7331 That is correct but I am using the more classical colloquial idea of a hobbit which is used to describe a people group of small stature which would also include the groups that fit the scientific definition. I don't particurally like the term Hobbit by the way even for past groups because of its use in folklore it doesn't have as a respectful connotation but if we strip the connotations they are basically the same thing.
To save energy for all the extra mealtimes??? Wait....
Also ever since it was discovered that some humans have Neanderthal DNA Anthropologist have been working too hard to polish up the image of Neanderthals. Brown bears and polar bears diverged around 600,000 years ago. Meanwhile Neanderthals and modern humans diverged at least 800,000 years ago. Living in such different climates, that's more than enough time for Neanderthals to look very different from humans who remained in the hot savanna and tropics. In my opinion Neanderthal recreations are made to look a lot more human than they actually were. By appearances Neanderthals were must likely wooly with long body hair like the elephant and rhinos that also moved north from Africa. Being hairless is an adaptation to keep cool, its not needed up north. And we know only modern humans used clothing to keep warm because it we know when body lice and pubic lice split into two different species. Its laughable to see men walking around today with more body hair than the Neanderthal recreations we see.
1:07 She doesn’t look a day over 50,000.
island dwarfism?
5:18 they explain why this of most likely not the case but then explain that there might be contradictory evidence to that one
If they were so flippant with the skeletal remains, how do they not know the people removing them did not contaminate the DNA by contact with them, and make them seem more like us? Must find more remains to be sure. Still there are living island little folk today, so it's not that unusual.
You are 44
But look like 28
Why did hobbits go extinct? They couldn't get a date.
The rest of the hobbits sailed west with the Elves
First
Imma call you quick draw. I thought I was fast but you still beat me. 😂
Doesn’t matter
IT does
@@init_yeah not really
@astroplushproductions salty cause you weren't? I'm confused why it matters enough for you to comment that it doesn't. Such action kind of negates the point you're trying to make, doesn't it? Lol
Them Hobbits is still around, they is. I sees them from the island lands walking about the shire round here all the time. Say this with a cheesy cockney accent.
Come to Argentina.
Everybody heres a Hobbit. all day round merry around, get some extra food, get something to drink.
Ok come to Cordoba actually, u try some fernet, ill get a pipe and we smoke as we party
A 10 minute video about human species and genetics was not mentioned once?
Island dwarfism
Stone tools that were chipped come from america in the 90's or 2000's i dont remember.
Did they have big feet?
Or, hear me out... Goblins and Hobbits went to war and it didn't end well.
Bold of you to assume I’m cool enough to know what Tolkien’s Hobbits were. Also accurate, but most certainly bold. 😬😎
The natives of the island have claimed to have seen the hobbits in modern times. I know legends are not scientific but it’s interesting.
Tolkien was not wrong about the hearts of men.
The term for humans should be "human" not "hominid."
according to South Park the Kardashians are also hobbits
I just don't like that we called them Hobbits. I just don't think we should name stuff after silly stuff we like. I wouldn't want people in the far future naming my remains after some movie characters. Even if it's something bad ass.
I love how sci show did a horrific episode on ‘sex being a spectrum’ and yet here Hank is calling the skeleton ‘she’ because we can tell sex from ancient skeletons 😂
🤡
Who was the researcher that only invited similarly biased people to research the remains? They should be tried by the court of humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment in solitary confinment. Disgraceful for a scientist to do such a thing.
We know all the creatures who were buried with the dinosaurs (ducks, fish etc) 65 million years ago have not changed, they remain exactly the same, so why are humans the only creature to have evolved during that time period, I’d love a talk on that.
Why wasn't it considered that people were smaller in the past, to begin with? Indonesian people today are not known for being tall, so these being even smaller thousands of years ago would make sense.
Because pretty well all other hominin fossils are much closer to the size of modern humans. Also Homo Floresiensis is very unlikely to be ancestral to any modern human populations.
Who said that’s not being considered? The difference in size is still dramatic compared to archaic humans
hey i think i'm knida on the small side of bieing five foot bacly. so i might actaly count a bit. but i also have a drect genttic line all teh way to odin the vikeing king so bacly i can bacly use the spear of gunter fate grand oder style bacsly. if i was in fate grand oder i would bacly be a bit over powered somionig bacly oden the all father being a drerect great ansetor bascly.