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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–4Cite as

Homo floresiensis

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Synonyms

Early homo; Human evolution

Definition

Homo floresiensis is a new species of hominin discovered in 2003 during archaeological excavations by an Indonesian-Australian team in Liang Bua cave on the island of Flores, Indonesia. The species is dated to ~90,000 years ago; the presence of an archaic-looking species living at such a recent period is an extraordinary occurrence. This entry focuses on the discovery, morphology, phylogeny, and controversies surrounding this enigmatic hominin.

Introduction

A series of bones, including a partial skeleton, was discovered in 2003 during an archaeological excavation in Liang Bua cave, on the island of Flores in Indonesia (Brown et al. 2004). The excavation team of Indonesian and Australian researchers was led by the late Professor Mike Morwood and Dr. Tony Djubiantono under the auspices of the Indonesian National Research Centre for Archaeology. The excavation aimed to find insights into the origins of the first Australians but instead the...

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References

  • Argue, D., Donlon, D., Groves, C., & Wright, R. (2006). Homo floresiensis: Microcephalic, pygmoid, Australopithecus or Homo? Journal of Human Evolution, 51, 360–374.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Archaeology and Anthropology, College of Arts and social Science, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Debbie Argue

Authors
  1. Debbie Argue
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Debbie Argue .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

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Argue, D. (2016). Homo floresiensis . In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3437-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3437-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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