If the holotype of Homo floresiensis, LB1, suffered from a severe developmental pathology, this could undermine its status as the holotype of a new species. One of the proposed pathological indicators that still remains untested is asymmetric distortion in the skull of LB1 (Jacob et al.: Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103 (2006) 13421-13426). Here, we present evidence that LB1 exhibits antemortem craniofacial deformities that are consistent with posterior deformational (positional) plagiocephaly. This is a relatively common condition in modern people with no serious associated health problems and does not represent a severe developmental abnormality in LB1.
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What do cranial bones of LB1 tell us about Homo floresiensis?
J Hum Evol
April 2016
Section of Medical and Forensic Anthropology, UFR of Health Sciences (UVSQ/Paris-Descartes University, AP-HP), Montigny-Le-Bretonneux, France.
Cranial vault thickness (CVT) of Liang Bua 1, the specimen that is proposed to be the holotype of Homo floresiensis, has not yet been described in detail and compared with samples of fossil hominins, anatomically modern humans or microcephalic skulls. In addition, a complete description from a forensic and pathological point of view has not yet been carried out. It is important to evaluate scientifically if features related to CVT bring new information concerning the possible pathological status of LB1, and if it helps to recognize affinities with any hominin species and particularly if the specimen could belong to the species Homo sapiens.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEvolved developmental homeostasis disturbed in LB1 from Flores, Indonesia, denotes Down syndrome and not diagnostic traits of the invalid species Homo floresiensis.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
August 2014
Kenneth J. Hsü Center for Integrated Hydrological Circuits Development, National Institutes of Earth Sciences, Beijing 100871, China
Human skeletons from Liang Bua Cave, Flores, Indonesia, are coeval with only Homo sapiens populations worldwide and no other previously known hominins. We report here for the first time to our knowledge the occipitofrontal circumference of specimen LB1. This datum makes it possible to link the 430-mL endocranial volume of LB1 reported by us previously, later confirmed independently by other investigators, not only with other human skeletal samples past and present but also with a large body of clinical data routinely collected on patients with developmental disorders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGeometric properties and comparative biomechanics of Homo floresiensis mandibles.
J Hum Evol
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Department of Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
The hypodigm of Homo floresiensis from the cave of Liang Bua on Flores Island in the archipelago of Indonesia includes two mandibles (LB1/2 and LB6/1). The morphology of their symphyses and corpora has been described as sharing similarities with both australopiths and early Homo despite their Late Pleistocene age. Although detailed morphological comparisons of these mandibles with those of modern and fossil hominin taxa have been made, a functional analysis in the context of masticatory biomechanics has yet to be performed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHomo floresiensis contextualized: a geometric morphometric comparative analysis of fossil and pathological human samples.
PLoS One
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Department of Anthropology and Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America.
The origin of hominins found on the remote Indonesian island of Flores remains highly contentious. These specimens may represent a new hominin species, Homo floresiensis, descended from a local population of Homo erectus or from an earlier (pre-H. erectus) migration of a small-bodied and small-brained hominin out of Africa.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIs LB1 diseased or modern? A review of the proposed pathologies.
Gene
October 2013
Département de Préhistoire, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Case postale 140, 57, rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France.
The fossil remains of Homo floresiensis have been debated extensively over the past few years. This paper gives a review of the various pathologies ascribed to LB1, the type specimen of H. floresiensis, and associated individuals.
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