Flores Man is not a separate species from Homo sapiens...

Teuku Jacob

We have already responded to the claims made regarding the discovery of Flores Man that elicited such worldwide media interest. The latest reactions from the scientific world have been of such a nature as to confirm that response.

One important figure to announce his views is the Indonesian paleoanthropologist Teuku Jacob. An evolutionist, Jacob is head of the paleoanthropology laboratory at Gadjah Mada University. The institute is known for housing many fossils unearthed within the borders of Indonesia and ascribed to the fictitious evolution of man. In that regard, Jacob's words are of particular importance in opposing the evolutionist scenario concerning Homo floresiensis.

A press statement distributed by the AFP agency and titled "Indonesian scientist says Flores hominid not new species," reads:

A leading Indonesian scientist challenged the widely publicised theory that the fossilised bones found on the eastern island of Flores were from a previously unknown species of human. Professor Teuku Jacob, chief palaeontologist from the state Gadjah Mada University, will carry out tests to prove the fossils are from a sub-species of Homo sapiens - "an ordinary human being, just like us".

"It is not a new species. It is a sub-species of Homo sapiens classified under the Australomelanesid race. If it's not a new species, why should it be given a new name?" the professor said. (i)

To recapitulate, evolutionists pointed to H. floresiensis' rather small brain volume in describing it as a separate species. However, Jacob states that this small brain volume may be a sign of mental abnormalities rather than representing evidence for a separate species. (Jacob is at the same time an expert pathologist.) In addition, the dwarfism process estimated to have led to this small brain volume in Flores Man is also encountered in other human races. Jacob emphasizes that such dwarfism is to be observed not only on Flores, but also in Central Mountain, Papua and Andaman, Aceh. The fact that dwarfism is known in other human races constitutes a new indication of the error in describing H. floresiensis as a separate "species" based on that dwarfism.

At the same time, a report on the daily Jakarta Post website headed "Indonesian experts deny 'Flores Man' fossil claim," reported similar views held by Harry Widianto of the Yogyakarta Archeology Agency. Widianto states that Flores man is merely a subspecies of H. sapiens, in other words a modern human race. He also emphasizes that these fossils should be named H. sapiens floresiensis. (ii)

It is not only Indonesian scientists who are expressing the error of Flores Man being described as a separate species. In the supplement to the Sunday edition of the Turkish daily Hürriyet, the Hacettepe University anthropologist Professor Metin Özbek also challenged the claim, which is being sought to be popularized in the media, that Flores man is a separate species. Professor Özbek says:

The claim that this discovery will create a revolution in anthropology is rather exaggerated. I don't know how accurate it is to regard the skeleton found on the island of Flores as an entirely separate species. It could be a racial variety of H. sapiens. The facts that its brain is small and its stature short are interesting, but these have also been previously present in pygmies. Microcephaly (a small brain) is a known phenomenon. (iii)

Conclusion:

These statements by such expert scientists as Jacob, Widianto and Özbek are a literal reiteration of the main line of our response regarding Flores Man.

The attempt to describe the Flores Man fossils as a separate species to modern man is based on no scientific grounds and constitutes no support for the theory of evolution.

The fact that the "separate species" description of Flores Man launched by evolutionists is being challenged by other evolutionists once again reveals the uncertainty shrouding the evolutionary claims regarding the fossils in question.

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i "Indonesian scientist says Flores hominid not new species", AFP Science by Yahoo, http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1539&e=3&u=/afp/20041106/sc_afp/indonesia_science_palaeontology_041106133524
ii "Indonesian experts deny 'Flores man' fossil claim", The Jakarta Post Online, 5 November 2004
iii Ezgi Baþaran, "Floresli kadýn için Türk bilim adamlarý ne diyor?", www.hurriyetim.com.tr, 7 November 2004