Hobbits Were Real. Why Were They So Small?

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  • Опубліковано 24 січ 2025

КОМЕНТАРІ • 493

  • @SciShow
    @SciShow  2 місяці тому +27

    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.

    • @mnemosynevermont5524
      @mnemosynevermont5524 2 місяці тому +1

      Why so many itty bitty Italians in present day?

    • @YouTubeSucks666
      @YouTubeSucks666 2 місяці тому +1

      Why are you misleading us on this subject?
      first you say Island of Flores, and than You mention the island of Java...
      if you speak about anything, please do some factual research before you spread your garbage all over the planet.🦧

    • @Napoleonic_S
      @Napoleonic_S 2 місяці тому +1

      Give an update on Hank's curvy hair situation please? Isn't it supposed to be temporary?

    • @En_theo
      @En_theo 15 днів тому

      Another Anunaki's failed experiment, foolish humans.

  • @nerzer11
    @nerzer11 2 місяці тому +354

    My professor used to say that a new fossil never really "fills a gap" but just produces two smaller gaps on each side. Every answer raises new questions. A very interesting field for sure.

    • @lukescholz1
      @lukescholz1 2 місяці тому +5

      I love that

    • @aliengeo
      @aliengeo 2 місяці тому +21

      This makes me think of the Futurama scene where the professor is questioned about the "missing link" between modern humans and ancient apes and says, it's Homo erectus.
      Ah, but what's the missing link between Homo erectus and ancient apes? Homo habilis!
      But what's the missing link between Homo habilis and-

    • @ChannelMiner
      @ChannelMiner 2 місяці тому +5

      ​@@aliengeoBehold, bender frolicking with dinosaurs.

    • @assininecomment1630
      @assininecomment1630 Місяць тому +1

      But those two gaps aren't equivalent to the larger original one,@@nerzer11. Each is smaller, and has a more detailed frame of reference. It's easier to resolve one or both of those gaps, than it is to deal with the former single large gap.

    • @nerzer11
      @nerzer11 Місяць тому

      @@assininecomment1630 He would have argued that even the smaller gaps could never be "resolved" but just split in smaller and smaller gaps.
      Which should not be interpreted as a bad thing. Our understanding does grow. even if there is never a complete resolving.

  • @Adventurealliancekerala
    @Adventurealliancekerala 2 місяці тому +219

    This species truly feels like something out of a fantasy story, yet it’s a real part of our history. Just incredible!

    • @jerrytuerke6950
      @jerrytuerke6950 2 місяці тому +2

      Look at how many types of humanoid were alive 140000 years ago

    • @fernandobernardo6324
      @fernandobernardo6324 2 місяці тому +3

      The population of thst place and the surrounding islands are still the shortest on average today

    • @ReflectedMiles
      @ReflectedMiles 2 місяці тому +2

      Tolkien was a prophet, not just a philologist and a papist. 😊

    • @owen-trombone
      @owen-trombone 2 місяці тому

      @@fernandobernardo6324 is that true?

    • @patrickmccurry1563
      @patrickmccurry1563 2 місяці тому

      @@fernandobernardo6324 Unrelated coincidence as homo sapiens came to the area long after the "hobbits" went extinct. There was no inbreeding.

  • @Marewig
    @Marewig 2 місяці тому +92

    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.

  • @benjaminforman8901
    @benjaminforman8901 2 місяці тому +119

    Wait, I want to hear what "Team Pathology" had to say when the other specimens were found! Or are they still beating that drum? We haven't gotten to the dregs of this tea yet!

    • @ETBrenner
      @ETBrenner 2 місяці тому +26

      Yes! I confess it always bugs the crap out of me whenever I hear another one of these stories of scientists being so unscientifically dogmatic about their pet theory. Is it petty of me to want to hear a mea culpa out of them for being so obstructionist? Yeah... I guess it is petty. But dang it all! 😀

    • @samgordon9756
      @samgordon9756 2 місяці тому

      @@ETBrenner It's a good reminder that science is ultimately objective because scientists aren't. Because the big bragging rights are in proving something like General Relativity or the Standard Model wrong, people keep doing work that adds evidence that those theories are right.
      The thing is, someone is going to find something wrong in one or both of those theories because they fail to agree where they overlap.
      When they do, everyone whose ideas were off base will quietly fade. You know Einstein figured out the speed of light issue, but you don't know who was pushing the alternative explanations or often what those explanations were.
      That said, if you want at least one example of a scientist admitting fault, Stephen Hawking and Kip Thorne were sure black holes destroyed information while a fellow called Preskill was sure information is fundamental and can't be destroyed.
      While the jury is still out on the final truth, Hawking would eventually admit that the preponderance of evidence suggests that information is not destroyed and that interpretation of the evidence is likely correct.
      It's rare, but it does happen. Most of the time, neither the media nor academia care about who got it wrong. So we don't hear their stories unless they choose to tell them.

    • @NinaDmytraczenko
      @NinaDmytraczenko 2 місяці тому +6

      I don't wanna hear it! I want to watch the Netflix documentary on it!!!! 🤩

    • @justincase4812
      @justincase4812 Місяць тому +3

      Career clutching. Pathological egoism. Less funding risk. Oh the humanity to admit they were wrong and maybe adapt their dogmas.

    • @joeybelasco
      @joeybelasco Місяць тому

      ​@@NinaDmytraczenkothe Netflix ad

  • @TitularHeroine
    @TitularHeroine 2 місяці тому +98

    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)

  • @bhami
    @bhami 2 місяці тому +72

    Note that intelligence is not necessarily closely correlated with brain size. Just consider corvid birds (crows, magpies, jays, ...) which are super-bright, use tools, and hold grudges and even pass the grudges along to their children and other relatives.

    • @huckthatdish
      @huckthatdish 2 місяці тому +12

      Within family groups, it’s pretty well correlated generally. When comparing from a mammal to a dinosaur like a Corvid, it becomes incredibly flawed. But when comparing closely related species, it’s definitely correlated. Not perfectly correlated obviously, but in general correlated to the point an exception is quite notable

    • @Kikilang60
      @Kikilang60 2 місяці тому

      Corvids have to fly, so they evolve to have light brains. Their brains maybe small, but they have five times the number of brain cells per cubic centimeter when compared to humans.

    • @armchairwarrior963
      @armchairwarrior963 2 місяці тому +1

      Humans it matters. Total different speciee. Bird brains and human brains etc.. are different.

    • @John-pe6fw
      @John-pe6fw 2 місяці тому +2

      In that case, has someone correlated humam iq with brain weight and size? Thatd be both intriguing and terrifying

    • @huckthatdish
      @huckthatdish 2 місяці тому +8

      @@John-pe6fw the difference is more on a species average level. Not individuals within the same species. I’d suspect there is a correlation globally, but only because people who grow up malnourished both preform worse on iq tests and all parts of their body grow smaller on average. Same reason globally wealth is very closely correlated with height. Obviously that correlation falls apart past a certain point because once you’re well nourished, being richer does not make you taller. If you only compare people who grew up adequately nourished I doubt you’d see much correlation

  • @Darxide23
    @Darxide23 2 місяці тому +180

    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.

    • @pauls5745
      @pauls5745 2 місяці тому +2

      They probably weren't around very long, and got squeezed out in the region into smaller pockets and islands. There might be some of their DNA floating around in some of those pygmy tribes yet.

    • @LilFeralGangrel
      @LilFeralGangrel 2 місяці тому +7

      @@pauls5745 no? all you made is a bunch of unsubstantiated claims.

    • @jonathanwilson4791
      @jonathanwilson4791 2 місяці тому

      Odd thing about island dwarfism. There is also island giantism

    • @sax0cat
      @sax0cat 2 місяці тому +2

      @@jonathanwilson4791 Same w/ deep sea dwarfism and deep sea gigantism. Evolution is weird

    • @patrickmccurry1563
      @patrickmccurry1563 2 місяці тому +1

      @@jonathanwilson4791 Dwarfism is based on limited resources. Gigantism is often a result of few to no predators. That's why elephantines get smaller, while rodents get bigger.

  • @huldu
    @huldu 2 місяці тому +97

    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.

    • @pbtube58
      @pbtube58 2 місяці тому +8

      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.

    • @danieloneal7137
      @danieloneal7137 2 місяці тому +18

      @@pbtube58 It’s also possible that there was still a sizable population of them living there when the first Homo sapiens arrived on the island. And you know what most likely would’ve happened then …

    • @thomasferris3750
      @thomasferris3750 2 місяці тому

      Don't help that it typically happens as a result of genocide

    • @xWood4000
      @xWood4000 2 місяці тому +2

      ​​@@danieloneal7137 Do you mean reproduction or death? Both could be possible, although I don't know how much dna there is

    • @mattduncil
      @mattduncil 2 місяці тому +2

      There was a guy that was viewed alone living on an island the last of his tribe. Then disappeared and is assumed died.

  • @wtfkristenn
    @wtfkristenn 2 місяці тому +50

    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.

  • @mrwedge18
    @mrwedge18 2 місяці тому +78

    0:19
    What do you mean scishow is more than a decade old???? You take that back right now

  • @ivytarablair
    @ivytarablair 2 місяці тому +22

    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

  • @alexeibernard7577
    @alexeibernard7577 2 місяці тому +15

    I absolutely love how dramatic and passionate you describe these scientific publications that went back and forth between the two different camps of opinion and scientific reasoning! Just recently I spoke with some friends at my university where we said the lecture was great today. It “was almost like being at university”. What we meant by that was that people were discussing pedagogical arguments with a passion that was refreshing… These days so many people seem to study at university in such a dry and dreary way. They try to get everything done, which makes sense because you’ve got to get your exams done, but on the other hand it also means it’s kind of sad. I love drama in the world of science! I’m only at two minutes and 34 seconds, but I am loving the drama. Thanks so much for this video. I look forward to watching the remaining eight minutes.😊

    • @Dragonfly0987
      @Dragonfly0987 Місяць тому +1

      Drama is not the point.
      Scientific truth is the point.
      I appreciate the passion for knowledge, but love of Drama in scientific endeavors isn't furthering the truth.

    • @alexeibernard7577
      @alexeibernard7577 Місяць тому +1

      @ I totally agree, but we’re funding comes research continues. When people speak passionately about a scientific topic than people who have money might get interested and be willing to fund research that will bring research in that area forward. A random example Darwin theory of evolution may never have been brought to fruition if rich European individuals had invested interest in funding such research

  • @Tjalve70
    @Tjalve70 2 місяці тому +47

    True: Having long legs WILL allow you to cover more ground and spread out geographically.
    But TIME will also allow you to do that. So I don't really see this as much of an argument.

    • @LimeyLassen
      @LimeyLassen 2 місяці тому +5

      Maybe they mean that they were better able to cross harsh terrain, before needing to find water or shelter.

    • @Tjalve70
      @Tjalve70 2 місяці тому +2

      @@LimeyLassen That is possible. But to be honest, I can't see that being such a huge point.

    • @John-pe6fw
      @John-pe6fw 2 місяці тому +3

      I agree, it seems like useless speculation based on the false premise that one needs long legs to travel far distances, bordering on embellishment.

    • @ay-dionne
      @ay-dionne 2 місяці тому +9

      I can confirm, being a person of short stature (

    • @zee9709
      @zee9709 16 днів тому

      This is kinda stupid, theres many animal with ways smaller and shorter leg yet spread the globe

  • @kevinmorgan2968
    @kevinmorgan2968 2 місяці тому +22

    This was a nice little video, it cleared up some small confusion and went into minute detail on tiny things. Big success.

  • @assininecomment1630
    @assininecomment1630 2 місяці тому +17

    Fascinating stuff. Thank you!
    I'm stoked to learn that around 50kya, Homo Floresiensis was long established _when the ancestors of Australian Aboriginal Peoples passed through_ what is now, the Indonesian archipelago. Current evidence indicates Aboriginal Australians were occupying at least the northern regions of this continent, as far back as 65 kya. Did their ancestors essentially walk past what was an endemic species in Indonesia?

    • @meganofsherwood3665
      @meganofsherwood3665 2 місяці тому +2

      Ooh!! I didn't realize the timing overlapped!!

    • @restezlameme
      @restezlameme 2 місяці тому

      HOLY CRAPOLA 🤯
      YOU'RE BRILLIANT

    • @Dragonfly0987
      @Dragonfly0987 Місяць тому +1

      Had the same thought as well. Surely a handful (whatever that means exactly) of Flores people moved south with the proto AUS aboriginals and intermixed genetically. Conversely, a handful of Aboriginals must have stayed with the Floresians.
      A weird and tangled web which we will never completely unravel. Amazing stories lurking in deep history that we will never hear.

    • @assininecomment1630
      @assininecomment1630 Місяць тому

      Also, could it be that on the eastern side of the Wallace Line, there were fewer natural potential predators on populations of smallish hominids. That might _partly_ explain why they haven't (yet?) been found in similar environments further west and north, in what was Sunda (now western Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines).

  • @dolphinsoccer4
    @dolphinsoccer4 2 місяці тому +14

    Thank you for introducing the mid-roll ad! It's so much less jarring now. I still skip through it, but it's a more pleasant experience overall!

  • @ryanjoseph8602
    @ryanjoseph8602 2 місяці тому +507

    fun fact, Viggo Mortensen actually broke his foot on that helmet

  • @jayyydizzzle
    @jayyydizzzle 2 місяці тому +12

    Congrats on 8 million subs!

  • @DoroteaTheMacuahuitl-Potato
    @DoroteaTheMacuahuitl-Potato 2 місяці тому +9

    The creative part of my mind now imagines an inter-archipelagan confederation of little people, riding Komodo Dragons and fighting off and hiding from their giant, 2 meter cousins.

  • @ponyote
    @ponyote 2 місяці тому +7

    Here's the long and short of it.
    Kudos to whomever wrote that joke. I giggled.

  • @senantiasa
    @senantiasa 2 місяці тому +8

    Then there's also the fact that Indonesians generally are known as (on average) the shortest people on earth. Is that because modern Indonesians are somehow related to homo floriensis or is it because modern Indonesians are not related to them but have also shrunk for the same reason homo floriensis have shrunk (ie. insular dwarfism)?

  • @braelynstandish1228
    @braelynstandish1228 2 місяці тому +8

    Always love hearing how excited you were about a new discovery ☺️

  • @renaigh
    @renaigh 2 місяці тому +19

    Little people riding mini-elephants is so much cooler than Tolkien's cottagecore fantasy.

  • @madcow3417
    @madcow3417 2 місяці тому +8

    1:35 cooking "big" game. I'm guessing they weren't hunting mammoth, more like a boar.

    • @MarkusAldawn
      @MarkusAldawn Місяць тому +2

      Instead of hunting the creature that will gore you at the first provocation, they hunted the creature that will gore you without the slightest provocation?
      Well I guess they're braver than I am either way lol

    • @madcow3417
      @madcow3417 Місяць тому

      @MarkusAldawn good point. If they were in South America they could go after Capybaras.

  • @fillman86
    @fillman86 Місяць тому +1

    I do find it disappointing that we were the only branch that survived. It'd be cool to have a non human that we could talk with

  • @EwanLim
    @EwanLim Місяць тому +1

    i'm really curious about how small they were because i'm from south east asia and we do have some really tiny people around. around 1.2m tall adults and definitely not dwarfism. the real benefit is that they save money by purchasing kids sizes from Zara.

  • @JobiWan144
    @JobiWan144 2 місяці тому +12

    It kinda figures that we've found these fossils in caves. After all, "In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit."

  • @janetf23
    @janetf23 2 місяці тому +8

    Still lovin' your zesty delivery, Hank❣

  • @kilppa
    @kilppa 2 місяці тому +13

    5:40 That does not look like 70% of the size of the bigger animal.

    • @MusicalXena
      @MusicalXena 2 місяці тому

      I wonder if it was supposed to be 17%.

    • @tomarty2103
      @tomarty2103 2 місяці тому

      Does % size mean height or mass/volume?

    • @kilppa
      @kilppa 2 місяці тому +1

      @@tomarty2103 He gave different numbers for size and mass.

  • @StorySenseChannel
    @StorySenseChannel Місяць тому +1

    we have oral myths here in SL that tiny humans lived here some 20k years ago passed from generation to generation

  • @fikretyet
    @fikretyet 2 місяці тому +11

    Dear Hank Green; why not do the Netflix documentary yourself then? This, definitely is, your cup of tea.

  • @wyvern723
    @wyvern723 2 місяці тому +17

    My physical anthropology prof had a former student who was involved with some of those digs, he talked about that controversy and there was so much conflict there. Good lord, it was bad.

    • @vianandroid
      @vianandroid 2 місяці тому

      Why this fossil leading too much conflict?
      What university that damages the fossil?

  • @Bunny_bax
    @Bunny_bax Місяць тому

    4:36 thank you patreon supporters for your valuable work 😌

  • @Goatcha_M
    @Goatcha_M 2 місяці тому +3

    My old palaeontology professor believed firmly they were H. erectus that had suffered island dwarfism, but that really doesn't explain archaic traits like the wrist bones.
    Maybe they got to SE Asia the same way apes did, trouble is lack of evidence.
    Oh and I also agree with her that it was H. ergaster that left Africa and then evolved into H. erectus in Asia.

  • @tommyfrerking
    @tommyfrerking 2 місяці тому +26

    They're taking the Hobbits to Liang Bua Cave!

    • @Mazorzarch
      @Mazorzarch 2 місяці тому

      The Hobbits,
      The Hobbits,
      The Hobbits,
      The Hobbits!

  • @TheJake76
    @TheJake76 2 місяці тому +6

    Everyone always talks about H. Floresiensis, but what about H. Luzonensis? Why is she the Jan Brady of the hobit sized humans?

  • @FacelessOfficial1
    @FacelessOfficial1 2 місяці тому +4

    2:33-2:37 am I the only one that thinks this is the extremest thing a scientist can do in that context without it being super inapropriate? (which it is to be honest, it's the equivalent of "yeah...reaserch and stuff.. nice try bro")

  • @bengoodwin2141
    @bengoodwin2141 2 місяці тому +10

    "I was 23, and I read a lot of science news"
    Hey, just like me!

  • @drbigmdftnu
    @drbigmdftnu 2 місяці тому +1

    Excited to hear there were more finds in 2024. We need more fossils and data points.
    Great work

  • @tumakbaluk
    @tumakbaluk 2 місяці тому

    Melannie, I love your humor, and your bloopers are always gold. I think you would be a fantastic comedian 🧡

  • @rykephoenix
    @rykephoenix 2 місяці тому +3

    Was googling Homo floriensis and started to read the first text I saw and read "les fossiles ont été découverts en 2003 dans la grotte de Liang Bua, sur l'ile indonésienne de Florès." at the same time Hank said it (in english) at 00:37 !!! Just a fun thought.

  • @3rkid
    @3rkid Місяць тому

    Humans' ancestoral species is such a fascinating topic. It's crazy how long they were around and evolving. Hundreds of thousands of years on a small island, and a relatively small population. Just coexisting in equilibrium with the environment. And then you think about how much has changed in just the past 10,000 years... crazy.

  • @duck8dodgers
    @duck8dodgers 2 місяці тому

    Thanks for the updates on this fascinating series of discoveries. I was also fascinated about this in the aughts, but didn't know about the newer fossils.

  • @Oddingen
    @Oddingen 2 місяці тому

    Takk!

  • @snellsnell7490
    @snellsnell7490 2 місяці тому +3

    Hank, I’m so happy to see you enjoying yourself. You love to learn for the sake of learning and that’s a great quality in a person. You take care love you John and your families. Happy Thanksgiving.

  • @theduder2617
    @theduder2617 Місяць тому +2

    2:57
    If ever there is any scientist of any sort/caliber who restricts their "evidence" to only those willing to agree with them, everything they have ever claimed is questionable at best, but probably outright lies all around. It is very good to have evidence examined by those who possess different hypotheses and theories. It's part of the extremely important "peer review" process of scientific discovery.
    To present such biased behavior is a red flag of someone who has either discovered something which refutes their desired hypothesis, or who is unable to objectively support their claim(s) with testable/falsifiable data.
    There are charlatans in all walks of life. Some being more harmful than others. If their claim(s) can not be tested because they refuse to provide and share evidence unless allegiance to only their claim is agreed upon in advance, they are more than likely full of it.

  • @yanekc
    @yanekc Місяць тому +2

    Wait. He was 23 20 years ago?

  • @Gilgwathir
    @Gilgwathir 2 місяці тому +8

    Loving this "content" about "research". Joking aside, excellent video as always.

  • @Sumaleth
    @Sumaleth 2 місяці тому

    Nice to have an update on this old mystery.

  • @jaxlockhart518
    @jaxlockhart518 2 місяці тому +1

    one of the most amazing finds of my life time.

  • @chiaroscuroamore
    @chiaroscuroamore 2 місяці тому

    This is so cool! Thank you for another great video!
    And this video weirdly coincides with my finding a copy of the 1967 vinyl LP called Poems & Songs of Middle Earth and has Tolkien reading some of his works.

  • @nerdyPanda7288
    @nerdyPanda7288 2 місяці тому +11

    1:07 She doesn’t look a day over 50,000.

  • @coasterblocks3420
    @coasterblocks3420 2 місяці тому +1

    If you get the History Channel to do the doco then I’m sure they could - would - work in the curse angle.

  • @StYxXx
    @StYxXx 2 місяці тому +2

    So turns out LB1 wasn't small at all but rather large (for their species)? :D

  • @danielmadar9938
    @danielmadar9938 2 місяці тому +7

    Thanks. A correction - the right skull in minute 4:28 is of Homo Sapiens, not Erectus.

    • @JWMcLay
      @JWMcLay Місяць тому

      I knew I wasn't the only one that Spotted this. Thank you!
      I had to scroll for ages to find your comment

  • @lung0fish1
    @lung0fish1 2 місяці тому +1

    Great video. I love the bit showing that scientists are not only human but can be downright petty drama queens. BUT... I'm pretty sure there's an error around 4:32. There, a H. florensiensis skull is shown next to a skull labeled "H. erectus", but that second skull looks a LOT like Homo sapiens. At 5:09, H. florensiensis is again shown next to H. erectus, but this time the skull looks more like what I expected-- old, stained, with a heavy brow ridge and massive jaw.

  • @SimonPrefontaineGames
    @SimonPrefontaineGames Місяць тому

    This is the first I hear of Homo luzonensis. Neat!

  • @KristiChan1
    @KristiChan1 2 місяці тому

    I remember the drama around when they first found the little hobbit. It was hilarious and eye roll inducing.

  • @LordBrittish
    @LordBrittish 2 місяці тому +26

    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.

    • @Zeithri
      @Zeithri 2 місяці тому +3

      And Elves and Fuzzies.
      Then Lord British went on a genocide spree and the others vanished.
      wait...

    • @FrozEnbyWolf150-b9t
      @FrozEnbyWolf150-b9t 2 місяці тому +2

      @@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."

    • @flarvin8945
      @flarvin8945 2 місяці тому +4

      I have been playing D&D since around 1979, and halflings were called halflings. So when were they supposedly called hobbits?

    • @garethhughes7430
      @garethhughes7430 2 місяці тому

      @@flarvin8945 1978

    • @MadMorgie6318
      @MadMorgie6318 2 місяці тому +2

      ​@@flarvin8945Before Tolkien's estate got on their case and threatened to sue. Balrogs became Balor and Ents Treant.

  • @megamanx466
    @megamanx466 2 місяці тому +2

    Brain volume doesn't equal brain density or in other words, the number of connections the different areas of the brain make to each other. A smaller human isn't necessarily less intelligent than the largest human. 🤷‍♂

  • @TomsBackyardWorkshop
    @TomsBackyardWorkshop 2 місяці тому +4

    I want a miniature elephant.

    • @geeksdo1tbetter
      @geeksdo1tbetter 2 місяці тому +1

      a puppy sized elephant, perhaps? 😊

  • @ScentlessSun
    @ScentlessSun 2 місяці тому +2

    Do a video on Homo naledi and its burial practices.

    • @AroundTheBlockAgain
      @AroundTheBlockAgain 2 місяці тому

      Thanks for the recommendation, I'm reading about this right now and it's fascinating!

  • @wyocoyotewyocoyote9007
    @wyocoyotewyocoyote9007 2 місяці тому +1

    makes me wonder how much age of motherhood and survival rates of both adults and offspring might affect size.

  • @Sarnarath
    @Sarnarath 2 місяці тому +2

    Why does nobody mention they live right next to Komodo island? Scary stuff

  • @escobasingracia962
    @escobasingracia962 2 місяці тому

    This has to be a topic for Atlas Pro video

  • @paigemalloy4276
    @paigemalloy4276 2 місяці тому +6

    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.

  • @sambojinbojin-sam6550
    @sambojinbojin-sam6550 Місяць тому

    Flores is a pretty big island. Maybe they were constrained to what they were doing, but the island hypothesis of limited potential resources falls apart when it's a really big island. Not adaptation to that niche as an idea, or bringing in genes that proved useful in that environment, but "island" and 16000km² land mass are two different things in English terminology of "island dwarfism".
    There are "island" mountains, floodplains, forests, etc. But looking at Flores as a small island is silly.
    Galapagos Islands: Yes.
    Actually quite large Islands in Indonesia like Flores: probably not, or not due to them being Islands, there's heaps of other stuff involved.

  • @JojobaNutOil
    @JojobaNutOil 2 місяці тому

    actually looking at the reconstructive art, im curious when lips evolved in hominids. looks like a lot are rendered/drawn without lips?

  • @sethsevaroth
    @sethsevaroth 2 місяці тому +1

    Could it have simply been social ostracization of certain individuals from a tribe that carried some reccessive genes that caused intermittent dwarfism? The proverbial leper colony? Which then established a breeding population with only carriers of the recessive genes?

  • @haunting_one
    @haunting_one 2 місяці тому +2

    Naturally, I got this as soon as it was posted lol

  • @SydneyLarrikin-ci2vz
    @SydneyLarrikin-ci2vz 2 місяці тому +1

    Omg I remember that guy who hoarded the bones. Also we must be about the same age!

  • @44hawk28
    @44hawk28 Місяць тому

    50,000 years ago. In 1827 there were still 127 mahoney, functionally Hobbits. In the Hawaiian census taken that year. Nearly every single one of them were less than 3 ft tall. Homo Florencia isn't even human it's a hominid

  • @KellyClowers
    @KellyClowers 2 місяці тому +1

    Hobbit on the cover image, green logo in the corner… I half expected to hear Robert from In Deep Geek when I clicked this.

  • @Braix69
    @Braix69 2 місяці тому

    Finally Something to Watch : )

  • @kaitlynoddie9649
    @kaitlynoddie9649 2 місяці тому

    idk anything about evolutionary biology but could it be possible that the hobbits started out pathological (like an individual of homo erectus with some kind of dwarfism) but the pathological individual did better because its smaller size required less food and passed on the pathology eventually leading to an overall smaller species?

  • @ikebeckman1074
    @ikebeckman1074 2 місяці тому +1

    I’ve always thought this is where the myth of leprechauns comes from

  • @elikuzma8773
    @elikuzma8773 Місяць тому

    I choose to believe LB1 is short for Lobelia (Bracegirdle) Sackville-Baggins

  • @druidsongevergreens
    @druidsongevergreens 2 місяці тому

    I would absolutely watch the netflix special, esp with david attenborough

  • @kkkk-wg6je
    @kkkk-wg6je Місяць тому

    Man, these humans really know how to mess things up

  • @deltacx1059
    @deltacx1059 2 місяці тому

    Id be curious if enough genetic material is left of some of these to make one? If we have that we already have the tech to try it to some degree.

  • @tealkerberus748
    @tealkerberus748 2 місяці тому +2

    Yeah I don't think they needed long legs to travel from Africa to Asia. If rats and mice can spread from one end of Afro-Eurasia to the other, so can small people. They just need a fairly continuous supply of habitats they can live in and they'll get there eventually.

  • @DJJD669
    @DJJD669 2 місяці тому

    I love it when academic papers basically become diss tracks

  • @bjdefilippo447
    @bjdefilippo447 2 місяці тому +3

    Shoddy/skewed research methodology really ticks me off. If part of the job is finding truth, those who don't do it correctly are not only wasting time & money, they erode the public's trust in science, scientists, and experts in general.

  • @Emblazened
    @Emblazened 2 місяці тому +1

    0:29 You mean the... *tall* and short of it?

  • @bl7240
    @bl7240 2 місяці тому +2

    "Were they always small, or did something make them small? Not like a curse, or something, like evolutionarily." This made me crack up laughing 😂! Love you, Hank. You're wonderful.

  • @justineb
    @justineb 2 місяці тому

    Finally some good news 📰

  • @celestial1989
    @celestial1989 2 місяці тому

    I LOVE YOU HANK!

  • @kioshekat7931
    @kioshekat7931 2 місяці тому

    I was not expecting a science video about hobbits

  • @ballalpatil6512
    @ballalpatil6512 2 місяці тому

    Near the equator, food is plentiful, so are predatory animals. Its evolutionarily advantageous to be small and agile.

  • @leza4453
    @leza4453 2 місяці тому +22

    But had they hairy feet?

    • @Jrpyify
      @Jrpyify 2 місяці тому +13

      They may well have had hairy everything.

    • @aoifedeborha2420
      @aoifedeborha2420 2 місяці тому +8

      Second breakfast?

    • @TitularHeroine
      @TitularHeroine 2 місяці тому +4

      ​@@aoifedeborha2420 Of course, because of the evidence of her cooking.

    • @GerhardSteinmayer
      @GerhardSteinmayer 2 місяці тому

      Did they smoke weed?

  • @estanceveyrac
    @estanceveyrac Місяць тому

    Wait, like in the Ken Liu's short story?

  • @bluecollarmenproductions
    @bluecollarmenproductions 2 місяці тому

    Meet a short person in common day, “I think you’re a new species”

    • @geeksdo1tbetter
      @geeksdo1tbetter 2 місяці тому

      Do not do this. Not even as a joke, yo.

  • @Riever_the_SmUwUg
    @Riever_the_SmUwUg 2 місяці тому +9

    Very cool, Have we found any skeletons in Isengard

  • @s.l.summers2958
    @s.l.summers2958 2 місяці тому +2

    Hank had the best tea on “science drama”.

  • @AroundTheBlockAgain
    @AroundTheBlockAgain 2 місяці тому

    I wonder if the "be short" gene was dominant for them like it sort-of is for our own species

  • @thomyorke7622
    @thomyorke7622 2 місяці тому

    BRUH I just had an exam a week ago with a question on why homo floresiensis were small and why they had a small cranium capacity I was like these guys are cool but I can only guess.

  • @MarcelinoDanielsson-le4mz
    @MarcelinoDanielsson-le4mz 2 місяці тому

    Everyone, feed your children half the caloric requirement since birth and we can have the hobbits back.
    Give them half of what an adult would eat from the start, they'll eat what they can, that'll be all.

  • @kataseiko
    @kataseiko 2 місяці тому

    How much genetic material is left after all those years? And would it be very bad to de-extinct hominids?

  • @ssmallishplague
    @ssmallishplague 2 місяці тому

    The average Asia male weight is 127lbs. The average weight of an Asia male 4 year old is 40-44lbs. 40/127 =0.315. Nearly exactly the same proportion of weight reduction of the insular dwarfs effect toward the “hobbies”