Homo floresiensis “cretin” hypothesis is unfounded

The paper suggesting that speciemens of Homo floresiensis were suffering from cretinism doesn’t stand up to examination.

You can read John Hawks’ careful dissection of the paper here: ‘Hobbit’ cretin FAQ.

Australian researchers Peter Obendorf, Charles Oxnard, and Ben Kefford claim that the Homo floresiensis skeleton LB 1 belonged to an individiual suffering from congenital hypothyroidism, or cretinism.

Cretinism would be caused by some kind of severe iodine deficiency in the mother during pregnancy. But how would you get such a severe deficiency on an island, surrounded by sea salt and seafood? How would cretinism in one individual explain nine similar individuals? If they all had it, how did the population survive for at least 80,000 years on their island?

There seems to be some kind of human panic that wishes to deny human status, or even humanlike status, to other species.

Small variety of humans found in Micronesia

I found this on Anthropology net. Bones from 1500 - 3000 years ago were found in caves on the Rock Islands of Palau in Micronesia. That’s only about 1600 km north of Flores, where H. floresiensis was found. According to the site,

The Palau fossils are of small people, similar in size to the Flores hominins. Preliminary analysis of more than a dozen individuals, including a male weighing about 43 kg and a female weighing about 29 kg, document that these were tiny.

… these individuals were simply small H. sapiens adapted for life on a small island.

Below: H. sapiens, skull from Palau, H. floresiensis

The lead author, Lee R. Berger, was kayaking around the island when he found two caves littered with bones. The article is here: “3000 Year Old Small Body Humans in Palau, Micronesia.”

The height of the skull and other bone proportions show that these were modern humans; however, they share some features, such as relatively large teeth, with H. floresiensis. Those features might be simply the result of size reduction.

I can do no better than to echo the author:

…the paper is published in PLoS One, which is an open access journal. That means you can download the original report and read it for yourself for free. I really recommend you do, this seems like one of the more significant paleoanthropological finds for 2008. Here’s the citation:

Berger, L.R., Churchill, S.E., De Klerk, B., Quinn, R.L., Hawks, J. (2008). Small-Bodied Humans from Palau, Micronesia. PLoS ONE, 3(3), e1780. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0001780

National Geographic will be airing a show about the bones next Monday.

Taxpayers pay for Harper’s image adviser

Perhaps the nation’s science adviser was canned to pay for P.M. Harper’s image adviser.

OTTAWA — It turns out that taxpayers are picking up the tab for Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s personal primper. After two days of ducking media and opposition questions, the Conservatives finally revealed Wednesday that Michelle Muntean is on Harper’s government staff.

But the revelation raises two more big questions: How much is she being paid? And why is there no government record of her employment?

Harper has been travelling with his personal image adviser for major domestic and international events — most recently at ceremonies at Vimy Ridge in France last week. Muntean helps him perfect his look, including managing his wardrobe and general grooming.

News that Harper uses a style maven had the opposition both frothing and laughing….

Government House Leader Peter Van Loan wouldn’t say who pays for Muntean’s services.

“Mr. Speaker, the prime minister maintains a tour staff, as do all prime ministers,” Van Loan told the Commons.

But a government source later confirmed that taxpayers are on the hook for Muntean’s services — although the Conservative party pays her expenses.

However, there is no record of Muntean as an employee of the Prime Minister’s Office, according to an official at the Privy Council Office. And an Access to Information request turned up no record of contracts paid out to Muntean.

Harper, meanwhile, has demanded accountability on such matters in the past. As an MP, Harper went after Reform Leader Preston Manning publicly for not detailing his party-paid clothing allowance. Under pressure, Manning eventually did provide an accounting of the $31,000 perk, but tensions between the two men had begun in earnest.