The Existence of Hobbits
By: Akshay Kulkarni
My personal claim
Evidence supporting the existance of the hobbit
1. In 2003 researches were astounded when they unveiled an 18,000-year-old fossil in a large cave in Flores, Indonesia. The fossil found had a proportionally small skull, and the fossils found around it were also small. The researchers estimated that the species was about 3 feet tall, just as how tall a hobbit normally was.
2. Its wrist structure proved that it was in the homo genus and resembled a homo sapien and a homo erectus.
3. Commonly refered to as the hobbits though its scientific name is Homo Erectus
4. A total of 9 fossils such as the first found in the cave.
The other side of the the argument
1. Argue that with its short stature and strange wrist structures it would be hard for the species to provide for themselves.
2. No proof that the fossils found in the island weren't human or another early form of a human.
3. The small stature could have also been caused by a genetic disorder such as down syndrome.
4. It would be impossible for an organism with a brain size of an orange to produce the sophisticated tools found near the organism. (it was proven the organism had a brain similar to the size of an orange.)
5. In the book Tolkien states that all hobbits have thick and curly brown hair which would mean that they all share the same gene for hair, which is impossible when reproducing.
Refutation of the counter- argument
1. On the island in Indonesia dwarfism served as an adaption as it helped the organism to hide and reach food easier. Another organism that used this adaption to its advantage was the dwarf elephant which was also found on the island.
2. DNA sequencing showed that the organism was completely different then any other organism found on earth at that time proving that the organism was unique.
3. It is impossible to tell the hair color of the organism with our current technology, so there is no way to prove or disprove that the organism wasn't like the hobbit. The organism's reproduction method is also unknown, meaning that the organism could have reproduced asexually leading to a lack of genetic diversity.