'Hobbit' human 'is a new species'
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The tiny skeletal remains of human "Hobbits" found on an Indonesian island belong to a completely new branch of our family tree, a study has found.
The finds caused a sensation when they were announced to the world in 2004.
But some researchers argued the bones belonged to a modern human with a combination of small stature and a brain disorder called microcephaly.
That claim is rejected by the latest study, which compares the tiny people with modern microcephalics.
Microcephaly is a rare pathological condition in humans characterised by a small brain and cognitive impairment.
In the new study, Dean Falk, of Florida State University, and her colleagues say the remains are those of a completely separate human species: Homo floresiensis.
They have published their findings in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
LB1 has a highly evolved brain. It didn't get bigger, it got rewired and reorganised, and that's very interesting
The study suggests LB1 is a creature new to science
clipped from: news.bbc.co.uk 
LB1 has a highly evolved brain. It didn't get bigger, it got rewired and reorganised, and that's very interesting
