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A male Homo floresiensis may have looked something like this. (Image: National Geographic)

The bones of the one-metre-tall human were discovered in limestone caves on the island of Flores in Indonesia and were therefore named as Homo floriensis. Examination of the partial skeleton identified it as that of an adult female, and imaginative artists' impressions appeared in the media of a corresponding miniature male with hairy, apelike face, carrying a rudimentary spear and a large dead rodent!

At first the new human was assumed to be very ancient because of its 'primitive' features, and was supposed to have probably evolved from another species, Homo erectus, found on the Indonesian island of Java. Subsequently, however, to the surprise of anthropologists, it was dated to 'only' 18,000 years ago. The bones are not actually fossilised, and may even yield DNA for further identification. Significantly, the reports noted that the modern Flores islanders have persistent legends of 'little people' living on the island in the past, and even speculated that some might still survive in unexplored areas of the jungle.

The discovery of 'Hobbit' brings to around ten the number of claimed human species, while the number of human-like species exceeds fifty. Now all these claims, based on supposedly significant differences of the sizes and shapes of fossil bones, have been blown apart by a new study. A world authority on fossil human anatomy, Professor Maciej Henneberg of the University of Adelaide, has just completed a detailed survey of the skull sizes and estimated body weights of all 200 specimens of human-like fossils and concluded that they all lie within the range expected for just a single species, including such famous specimens as Lucy, Java man and the Neanderthals. In other words, he considers that they are probably all variants of the single species Homo sapiens!

'Hobbit' braincast image (by Kirk E Smith, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology of Washington University)

Further examination of the skull by scientists at Washington University enabled a 'braincast' to be produced - simulating the size and shape of the brain that would have fitted inside the skull. In their report they noted that "the Hobbit's brain has some surprisingly advanced features". Surely an indication that Homo floresiences is just a smaller example of Homo sapiens, rather than a new species?

Professor Henneberg still believes that the fossils show evidence of 'evolution' within the species, with substantial increases in both skull sizes and body weights, but this is no more than another word for 'variation', and is clearly not the development of new species. The newspaper report tellingly illustrated the point by placing side by side the silhouettes of an English rugby player and an African pigmy! Another expert dryly drew attention to the pressure on scientists to find 'new' species, arising from the fact that there are far more palaeontologists than fossil specimens!

Creationists have long argued that these supposed fossil ancestors of humans are either clearly apes or are actually humans, and now a leading scientist has supported that position.