Newly described wrist bones support the argument that Homo floresiensis is a distinct species, rather than a deformed Homo sapiens.

In 2003, scientists discovered parts of a skeleton (LB1) that is at least 17,000 years old in Liang Bua on the Indonesian island of Flores. The individual was described as a new hominin species, mostly based on analysis of features of its skull and lower body. The wrist bones of LB1 included features seen in many apes but not modern humans. Caley Orr, now at Midwestern University in Downers Grove, Illinois, and his colleagues have analysed wrist bones from other finds at Liang Bua and their conclusions support the original findings. The bones are smaller than those of LB1, but contain features not found in modern humans and Neanderthals.

The finding rebuts claims that the primitive features of LB1 bones were due to pathology, the authors say.

J. Hum. Evol. 64, 109–129 (2013)