Ilya Somin goes off on the J.R.R. Tolkien variant of biblical science: looking for hobbits on Southeast Asian islands. It’s like digging for horns at Jericho, or arks on Mount Ararat. So, might these “hobbits” just be stunted humans?

“I have put that claim to rest,” says Colin Groves of the Australian National University in Canberra. He compared the Flores bones with those of 10 people who’d had cretinism, focusing on anatomical features that are typical of the disease. He found no overlap (HOMO – Journal of Comparative Human Biology, vol 61, p 211). William Jungers at Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York agrees the study finally puts that idea to rest.

Eyeballing? That’s it?! What about DNA testing? I’m no Tolkien fan by any measure – I despise the books actually – but, please, Groves’ observations hardly seem conclusive.

Filed under: Academia, Books, Science, Southeast Asia Tagged: cretinism, flores, hobbits, j.r.r. tolkien