Re: Flores Man Wrist Bones Indicate Early Hominin

In article <hwlabadiejr-65CC2B.17335320092007@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Horace LaBadie <hwlabadiejr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

<http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/317/5845/1743>

"The Primitive Wrist of Homo floresiensis and Its Implications for
Hominin Evolution
Matthew W. Tocheri,1* Caley M. Orr,2,3 Susan G. Larson,4 Thomas
Sutikna,5 Jatmiko,5 E. Wahyu Saptomo,5 Rokus Awe Due,5 Tony
Djubiantono,5 Michael J. Morwood,6 William L. Jungers4

Whether the Late Pleistocene hominin fossils from Flores, Indonesia,
represent a new species, Homo floresiensis, or pathological modern
humans has been debated. Analysis of three wrist bones from the holotype
specimen (LB1) shows that it retains wrist morphology that is primitive
for the African ape-human clade. In contrast, Neandertals and modern
humans share derived wrist morphology that forms during embryogenesis,
which diminishes the probability that pathology could result in the
normal primitive state. This evidence indicates that LB1 is not a modern
human with an undiagnosed pathology or growth defect; rather, it
represents a species descended from a hominin ancestor that branched off
before the origin of the clade that includes modern humans, Neandertals,
and their last common ancestor."

<http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20070920/D8RPDBTO0.html>


Some more links with illustrations.

<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20891440/site/newsweek/>


<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7004525.stm>
.