14 DAY TRIAL // Fossil remains discovered in 2003 belong to a previously undocumented Homo species, Stony Brook University researchers claim.
Writing in the journal PLOS ONE, the scientists detail how, when they first set their eyes on these fossils, they were unable to say whether they were looking at a self-standing species or remains of a modern human that had passed away because of some medical condition.
To determine the origin of these remains, the specialists compared their anatomy to that of long-lost Homo species and modern humans.
It was concluded that the mysterious bone fossils had more in common with the first than with the latter.
“Our findings provide the most comprehensive evidence to date linking the Homo floresiensis skull with extinct fossil human species rather than with pathological modern humans.
“Our study therefore refutes the hypothesis that this specimen represents a modern human with a pathological condition,” the researchers say.
The newly-documented species is named Homo floresiensis. Specialists suspect that it originated from a dwarfed Homo erectus population.