photo credit: wonker

Ancient Elephant Unearthed in Java
Jakarta Globe, 11 June 2009

The residents of the small town of Blora, 105 kilometers from Semarang, were surprised earlier this year when the most intact fossilized elephant skeleton ever found in Indonesia was unearthed nearby, a senior archeologist said on Thursday.

The recovery of the skeleton was completed last month and it has been taken to the Geology Museum in Bandung, said Suroso, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s director of archeological heritage.

“Our paleontologists from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) cooperated with Australia experts in the recovery of the ancient fossil,” Suroso said.

“It’s amazing. It’s so rare to find a complete elephant fossil.”

A new primate from the Eocene Pondaung Formation of Myanmar and the monophyly of Burmese amphipithecids
Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 01 July 2009

Fossils recently discovered in Myanmar could prove that the common ancestors of humans, monkeys and apes — known as anthropoids — evolved from primates in Asia, rather than Africa, researchers contend in a study released Wednesday.

The 38 million-year-old pieces of jawbones and teeth are part of a growing body of evidence that is helping scientists to understand the origin of primates, said Dr. Chris Beard, a paleontologist at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh and a member of the team who found the fossils near Bagan in central Myanmar in 2005.

“When we found it, we knew we had a new type of primate and basically what kind of primate it was,” Beard said in a telephone interview from Pittsburgh. “It turns out that jaws and teeth are very diagnostic. … They are almost like fingerprints for fossils like this.”

The findings were published in the Proceedings of The Royal Society B, a London-based peer-reviewed journal.

And the abstract of the paper:

The family Amphipithecidae is one of the two fossil primate taxa from Asia that appear to be early members of the anthropoid clade. Ganlea megacanina, gen. et sp. nov., is a new amphipithecid from the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation of central Myanmar. The holotype of Ganlea is distinctive in having a relatively enormous lower canine showing heavy apical wear, indicating an important functional role of the lower canine in food preparation and ingestion. A phylogenetic analysis of amphipithecid relationships suggests that Ganlea is the sister taxon of Myanmarpithecus, a relatively small-bodied taxon that has often, but not always, been included in Amphipithecidae. Pondaungia is the sister taxon of the Ganlea + Myanmarpithecus clade. All three Pondaung amphipithecid genera are monophyletic with respect to Siamopithecus, which is the most basal amphipithecid currently known. The inclusion of Myanmarpithecus in Amphipithecidae diminishes the likelihood that amphipithecids are specially related to adapiform primates. Extremely heavy apical wear has been documented on the lower canines of all three genera of Burmese amphipithecids. This distinctive wear pattern suggests that Burmese amphipithecids were an endemic radiation of hard object feeders that may have been ecological analogues of living New World pitheciin monkeys.

Of course, this is not the last we are going to hear about the issue. I doubt detractors are going to accept the hobbit-as-a-separate thesis on the basis that the hobbit’s cranium fits the prediction by a computer model. Incidentally, the Journal of Human Evolution has a whole series of papers published around the same time about the Flores skeletons and archaeological material, including descriptions of the Hobbit skeletons.

‘Hobbit’ Fossils Represent A New Species, Concludes Anthropologist
Science Daily, 17 Dec 2008

Size, shape, and asymmetry in fossil hominins: The status of the LB1 cranium based on 3D morphometric analyses
Journal of Human Evolution, 04 December 2008

Using 3D modeling methods, McNulty and his fellow researchers compared the cranial features of this real-life “hobbit” to those of a simulated fossil human (of similar stature) to determine whether or not such a species was distinct from modern humans.

“[Homo floresiensis] is the most exciting discovery in probably the last 50 years,” said McNulty. “The specimens have skulls that resemble something that died a million years earlier, and other body parts reminiscent of our three-million-year-old human ancestors, yet they lived until very recently — contemporaries with modern humans.”

Comparing the simulation to the original Flores skull discovered in 2003, McNulty and Baab were able to demonstrate conclusively that the original “hobbit” skull fits the expectations for a small fossil hominin species and not a modern human. Their study was published online this month in the Journal of Human Evolution.

Patiayam: Site of great fossil finds
The Jakarta Post, 15 February 2008
Link is not static, and the story remains on the Jakarta Post website for seven days.

Patiayam: Site of great fossil finds

Rosida Asmi never thought she would find the fossil of a prehistoric animal while doing her laundry in Gandu River, close to her home in Terban village, Jekulo district, in the Central Java town of Kudus.

On Dec. 20 last year, a dull-colored white piece of wood protruding from the river caught her attention.

She poured some water on it and was surprised. Half convinced, the 14-year-old high school thought she had found a fossil.

She was quite familiar with fossils because her father, 43-year-old Buchori, an elementary school teacher, had previously found some.

“She saw only part of the fossil but it was enough for her to conclude that it was a fossil she had found. She reported it to me.

“I did some digging at the site and found the fossil of a prehistoric water buffalo. The fossil was complete enough … the two horns, when put side-by-side, are equal to the distance between an adult’s outstretched arms,” Buchori told The Jakarta Post.

Other people have also found fossils in the area. On Feb. 2 this year, Jasminto, a 33-year-old farmer, by chance found the fossil of a tusk of an ancient elephant (Stegodon trigonochepalus) measuring 70 centimeters long and with a diameter of 20 cm.

“I was helping (my friend) make an irrigation canal in his rice field. My hoe struck something like a piece of white stone. I dug deeper and found it to be the tusk of an elephant. I knew right away it was a fossil. Locals here often find the fossils of prehistoric animals,” Jasminto said.

He previously discovered 22 teeth of an ancient animal and had reported his find to Buchori.

Buchori might be a teacher, but he is also chairman of the Association for the Conservation of Patiayam Site. About 37 people in Terban village have joined the association.

Patiayam is a mountainous area in Mount Slumprit, which is a part of Mount Muria territory. It is located about 70 kilometers east of the Central Java capital of Semarang.

“We joined the association and asked other locals to conserve the Patiayam site. Some of us had previously taken part in an excavation of prehistoric fossils by the Yogyakarta Archaeological Center. That’s why we have some experience and knowledge about fossils,” Buchori said.

He said residents in the area often found fossils of prehistoric animals, such as ancient elephants, deer, rhinoceroses, pigs, water buffaloes, crocodiles and seashells.

All these fossils are believed to be between 700,000 and 1 million years old.

Most of the fossils are kept in a room in the home of Mustofa, one of the association’s members. The room is referred to as the village’s museum.

In the house, the fossils — ranging from large fossils like the tusks of ancient elephants to seashells and small bones — sit in the open air on three large shelves.

Buchori and Mustofa said local residents had been finding fossils in the area for quite some time, but several had thrown them away.

The residents called these fossils balung buta (giant bones). Only after being informed the bones were historically valuable did they slowly round up the fossils they had discarded.

“We have collected no fewer than 600 fossils,” Mustofa noted.

The villagers said some Dutch people in the past had stayed in the residents’ homes when they came to Patiayam in search of fossils.

A serious search was conducted by Indonesian researchers in 1979. At that time, Prof. Yahdi Yaim and Dasri from the geological department of Bandung Technology Institute (ITB), found the lower-jaw teeth and seven broken skulls of ancient human beings. These finds are kept in the Archaeological Museum of ITB in Bandung.

In April 1981, an archaeological team from Yogyakarta discovered two tusks of a prehistoric elephant, each measuring 2.5-meters long with a diameter of 15 cm. The tusks are now kept at the Ronggowarsito Museum in Semarang.

Head of the Yogyakarta Archaeological Center, Siswanto, told The Jakarta Post there were 20 sites in Patiayam where fossils were usually found. Mount Slumprit and its surrounding areas are where most fossils have been discovered.

“We did an excavation again on Nov. 13-22 last year and found a complete fossil of an elephant skeleton. We found its ribs, scapula, femurs and backbone. We are yet to lift this fossil.”

He said this was the first time the fossil of a complete animal skeleton was found in the country. Usually, the bones are spread over a large distance.

“The fossil indicates that from the time the elephant died, there has been no shift in the soil layer,” he added.

“It is true that illegal fossil traders have come to this area. However, we leave security to the police as this is not within our authority. We can only provide information that these fossils are very valuable to the history of the local people and to Indonesia in general.”

Buchori said he knew which residents had found fossils but who had failed to report their findings to the association.

“We do nothing to them other than watch them … we also know that some illegal fossil traders have come here,” he said.

The archaeological team from Yogyakarta has also discovered three prehistoric stone axes used by prehistoric man.

According to Siswanto, the Patiayam site is a hominid site as the fossils of human beings, fauna and stone implements have been found there.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that many fossils have been discovered, the Kudus regency administration is yet to pay attention to the Patiayam site. Many fossils are kept in the homes of locals without proper conservation procedures.

Chairman of the Forum for the Conservation of Patiayam Site, Suprapto, complained of the regency’s lack of attention.

He said when the tusk of a prehistoric elephant went missing, not a single official from Kudus regency administration came to investigate.

“In fact, Patiayam Site could be turned into a tourist attraction and a center of research, just as the Sangiran site in Sragen has,” Suprapto said.

Books on the prehistory of Indonesia:
- Ancient History (The Indonesian Heritage Series) by Indonesian Heritage
- Java Man by R. Levin, G. H. Curtis and C. Swisher
- Prehistoric Indonesia: A reader
- Prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago by P. Bellwood
- Quaternary Research in Indonesia
All these books and more can be found at the SEAArch Bookstore.

While the verdict on the Hobbit is still up in the air, we take a segue and look at the method used for this study and at Ralph Holloway, the scientist who pioneered the method of making endocasts.

In Study of Brain Evolution, Zeal and Bitter Debate

While many anthropologists are convinced the Hobbit represents a new species of human, some argue vociferously that it is a microcephalic Homo sapiens with nothing new to say about evolution.Dr. Holloway said he was still “on the fence” about the controversy. “Homo floresiensis does not show any of the classic signs of microcephaly,” he said. “On the other hand, its brain does show a highly unusual degree of platycephaly,” a marked flattening of the brain. This could indicate that the Hobbit was suffering from some other sort of pathology.

Of course, the controversy still rages on and both sides have yet to fully address if homo floresiensis represents a sick human or a totally new species. In the meantime, you can read the feature of Ralph Holloway here.

‘Tip of the Iceberg’
A new study of a skeleton of a member of a race of three-foot-tall ‘hobbits’ who lived 12,000 years ago in Indonesia shows that they were a species of human—and that the evolutionary path to Homo sapiens has been tortuous indeed.
by Jessica Bennett

It was an astonishing discovery: the skeletal remains of a new human species that lived for eons on a remote island while man colonized the rest of the planet. Back when it was first discovered in 2003, on the tiny Indonesian island of Flores, the three-foot-tall adult female skeleton was dubbed “the hobbit,” because she—and the 11 other skeletal remains that were found like her—bore more of a resemblance to the Tolkien fantasy characters than to modern humans. The hobbit’s discovery presented evidence that as recently as 12,000 years ago another species of human may have roamed the earth and, more startling, that our evolutionary history was a lot more complex than previously thought. Many scientists were more skeptical—the bones, they said, most likely belonged to a diminutive human with physical defects: a freak.

The skeptics, however, were wrong. According to a new study published Thursday in the journal Science, the hobbit species, Homo floresiensis, or Flores Man, was indeed a new human species—an offshoot of an earlier human ancestor from Africa that somehow reached Flores and likely survived by hunting pygmy elephants and dodging Komodo dragons. The key was an analysis of the skeleton’s wrist. Matthew Tocheri, a postdoctoral anthropology fellow at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, says the hobbit bones are primitive; the wrist bones are shaped differently from those of humans and Neanderthals—and thus represent a human lineage that appeared before the modern wrist evolved, with Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. Tocheri, who has been studying wrists since 2001 and began looking at the hobbit’s wrist bones last November, spoke with NEWSWEEK’s Jessica Bennett. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: What’s different about what was published back in 2004 and what you’re publishing now?
Matthew Tocheri: In 2004, when the initial reports came out, not everything had been analyzed, and they mainly focused on the skull, because that’s what’s generally most preserved in the fossil record. The reason this paper is catching such a storm is because it’s basically coming out of left field. The main hobbit specimen has three wrist bones preserved, and the results are quite clear. Within our human, great-ape family tree, we’ve got two very different types of wrists: those of humans and those of living African apes, like chimps and bonobos and gorillas. And the hobbit wrist looks just like that of the African apes.

What does this say about human evolution?
It smashes the long-cherished scientific belief that our species, Homo sapiens, has had the earth to ourselves for tens of thousands of years. It makes us realize how much more complicated our recent evolutionary history is. Before the hobbit was found, we thought that for the last 30,000 years or so we’ve been alone in the world, and that all the other earlier hominid forms that we see in the fossil record between 1 and 3 million years ago had died out. Now we know that not all of those lineages went extinct prior to 1 million years ago, and some lived all the way up to the present time.

Does it also raise even more questions about where we come from?
It doesn’t necessarily raise questions about where we come from, but it does raise many questions about where the hobbits came from. When did the hobbit’s ancestors leave Africa? How did they get all the way to Southeast Asia, and when? It looks as if this could be just the tip of the iceberg, which makes it such an exciting discovery for science. It tells us that, hey, we’ve got a lot of work to do.

What about the argument that there could be a pathological explanation to all of this?
Pathology cannot adequately explain why the shape of the hobbit’s [wrist] is just like what we’ve seen in Australopithecus, early species of Homo, and African apes. The characteristic shapes of wrist bones develop during the first trimester [of gestation], well before genes that cause growth disorders and other skeletal defects begin to express themselves. Therefore, pathology cannot explain, for example, why the hobbit’s wrist is indistinguishable from that of a normal chimpanzee.

But there are still skeptics, no?
In this debate most people have sat somewhere in the middle, waiting for more evidence. I think what this paper does is convince all those who were undecided, people who are allowing the evidence to help make up their minds, that this is really a primitive species of human and not a modern human with some form of pathology.

What was your involvement back when the hobbit was first discovered in 2003?
None at all. I was an innocent bystander until about a year ago, when by accident these wrist bones basically ended up in the same room I was in. At that point I hadn’t made up my mind about anything. But even without knowing what I now know, if you had shown me these wrists without any other contextual information, I’d have said it is the wrist of a small African ape or fossil hominin. They don’t look anything like what the bones look like in modern humans.

Flores Man’s grapefruit-size brain was two-thirds smaller than ours, a size at one time thought too small for sophisticated thought. But evidence suggests that the creatures made stone tools, tended fires and organized hunts. If that’s true, would it overturn scientific axioms about the relationship of brain size to intelligence?
There’s never been a skull that small in the genus Homo. It’s basically equivalent to a chimp or Australopithecine [an apelike hominin closely related to humans]. And that small brain size creates a problem, because we thought that once the brain size started getting big, all the other hominin species with smaller brains went extinct. But these hobbits not only made it out of Africa but across Asia to a small, remote Indonesian island. How they did it and when they did it—these are questions we now have to solve. But it definitely tells us that big brains may not be everything about the story. All the parts of the skeletal anatomy need to be explored.

What does this discovery say about Africa holding or not holding the answers to how and where we came to be? Could there be other types of people who lived?
Africa is still the most likely place of our ancestry, but that doesn’t mean that different types of hominins didn’t get out of Africa earlier than we previously thought. We’ve always known that there are other types of hominins, but the hobbits tell us that there are other types that have lived almost up until today. So all of a sudden certain places that may not have been interesting [for excavation] because their sediments weren’t old enough, now are. Hobbits are opening up a whole lot of doors, telling us that the next 50 years or so are going to be very exciting in human origins research. Is it going to make the picture complicated? Yes. But it’s going to result in good science in the long run, and it’s going to be tremendously exciting.

So what’s the next step?
To do more excavations on Flores and the islands surrounding it, as well as more detailed analyses on the fossils we have. We’ve got a whole lot of looking and studying to do.

Books about homo floresiensis:
- A New Human: The Startling Discovery and Strange Story of the “Hobbits” of Flores, Indonesia by M. Morwood and P. van Oosterzee
- Little People And a Lost World: An Anthropological Mystery by L. Goldenberg

The Primitive Wrist of Homo floresiensis and Its Implications for Hominin Evolution
Matthew W. Tocheri, Caley M. Orr, Susan G. Larson, Thomas Sutikna, Jatmiko, E. Wahyu Saptomo, Rokus Awe Due, Tony Djubiantono, Michael J. Morwood, William L. Jungers

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.