H. lgfloresensis

Breitbart transmits the news that the minature hominids found on an island near Java are truly a separate species--a dwarf hangover of our ancient hominid cousins, probably H. Habilis--and not merely "pygmies whose brains had shrivelled with disease".

That's great to know.

But if they resemble "pygmies whose brains had shrivelled with disease", isn't it possible that they post on Little Green Footballs?

All joking aside...

As a Roman Catholic and an evolutionist (which is to speak redundantly) I think this is fascinating--and truly important. To think that our near human cousins were alive as late as 8000 years ago! That means they outdid even H. Neandertalensis! If these are derived from H. Erectus or even H. Habilus, it raises a 'baseline' from which we can measure subsequent human greatness. If they were animals instead of humans, it allows us to derive and study, from their differences with us, that which makes us truly human (and immortal).

If they were humans, ditto, except we can then derive that knowledge from the differences between the 'hobbits' and true animals such as the chimpanzee.

That evolution is fact (and the age of the universe 13.1 billion years or older) is beyond argument and absolute truth. It's clear that the anti-evolutionists (young earthers,e tc) believe because they accept without question the *literal* (as opposed to metaphorical) truth of The Book of Genesis. It would be nice if it were literally true. Unfortunately, it isn't.