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Article: New human species is so tiny, so recent, it stuns scientists.
- Article from:
- Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL)
- Article date:
- October 27, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Chicago Tribune. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Peter Gorner
CHICAGO _ Archeologists excavating a limestone cave on a remote Indonesian island have unearthed a new species of extinct humans unlike any other yet discovered _ a hobbit-sized people barely 3 feet tall, with heads no larger than grapefruits and oddly bulging eyes, who lived as recently as 18,000 years ago.
The tiny people lived together in caves and made crude stone tools to hunt primitive dwarf elephants and the large lizards called Komodo dragons. They existed at the same time as modern humans, though it is unclear if the two species had any contact.
Experts said the discovery is the first evidence that human species ...