A New Genetic Study Suggests Modern Flores Island Pygmies and Ancient Hobbits Are Unrelated
The island dwarfism effect seems to have occurred independently in each population, thousands of years apart
By Lorraine Boissoneault
August 2, 2018
5417010673
Geneticist Serena Tucci sat in the small Indonesian village of Rampasasa on Flores Island, the only woman in a room full of male researchers and pygmy villagers. Smoke from clove cigarettes swirled through the air and the villagers, whose average height was about 4.5 feet, offered their guests palm wine made from the sap of nearby trees. Slowly, with the help of translators working through three different languages, Tucci and her colleagues explained why they wanted to sample the villagers’ blood and saliva.
Clear communication was important, Tucci now says of that 2013 research trip. Scientists have made lots of mistakes in the past when working with the DNA of indigenous people. But once the villagers understood, they were excited. They wanted to know what their genetics could reveal about their personal history. They wanted to know if they were the descendants of the ancient hominins who once inhabited their island, Homo floresiensis, sometimes called hobbits for their resemblance to the fictional Tolkien creatures.
Read more:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/new-genetic-study-suggests-modern-flores-island-pygmies-and-ancient-hobbits-are-unrelated-180969858/#DWX13UcDjmxe0317.99
