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'''''Digital imprimatur''''' is a term widely associated with [[John Walker (programmer)|John Walker]], due to his article of the same name. Traditionally in the [[Roman Catholic Church]], an [[imprimatur]] is a censor's official approval of publication. Thus a digital imprimatur is needed under a system of [[internet censorship]].
{{Taxobox_begin | color = pink | name = ''Homo floresiensis''}}<br/>{{StatusPrehistoric}}
{{Taxobox_image | image =[[Image:Cover of Nature October 2004-Homo floresiensis.jpg]] | caption = ''Homo floresiensis'' cranium.<br />On the cover of ''Nature''. }}
{{Taxobox_begin_placement | color = pink}}
{{Taxobox_regnum_entry | taxon = [[Animal]]ia}}
{{Taxobox_phylum_entry | taxon = [[Chordate|Chordata]]}}
{{Taxobox_subphylum_entry | taxon = [[Vertebrate|Vertebrata]]}}
{{Taxobox_classis_entry | taxon = [[Mammal]]ia}}
{{Taxobox_ordo_entry | taxon = [[Primate]]s}}
{{Taxobox_familia_entry | taxon = [[Hominidae]]}}
{{Taxobox_genus_entry | taxon = ''[[Homo (genus)|Homo]]''}}
{{Taxobox_species_entry | taxon = '''''H. floresiensis'''''}}
{{Taxobox_end_placement}}
{{Taxobox_section_binomial | color = pink | binomial_name = Homo floresiensis | author = P. Brown ''et al.'' | date = [[2004]] }}
{{Taxobox_end}}
John Walker argues in his article ''The Digital Imprimatur: How big brother and big media can put the Internet genie back in the bottle'', that there is increasingly a crackdown on the ability for internet users to voice their ideas, as well as an upcoming official state of internet censorship on the horizon. Walker claims that the most likely candidate to usher in the digital imprimatur is [[digital rights management]], or DRM.
'''''Homo floresiensis''''' ("Man of Flores") is a [[species]] in the [[genus]] ''[[Homo (genus)|Homo]]'', remarkable for its small body, small [[brain]], and survival until relatively recent times. It is thought to have been contemporaneous with modern [[human]]s (''Homo sapiens'') on the [[Indonesia|Indonesian]] island of [[Flores]]. One sub-[[fossil]] [[skeleton]], dated at 18,000 years old, is largely complete. It was discovered in deposits in [[Liang Bua Cave]] on Flores in [[2003]]. Also here, parts of six other individuals, all diminutive, have been recovered as well as similarly small [[stone tool]]s from horizons ranging from 94,000 to 13,000 years ago. The first of these fossils was unearthed in 2003; the publication date of the original description is [[October 2004]]; and confirmation of species status is expected to appear soon, following the [[March 2005]] publication of details of the brain of Flores Man.
Similar scenarios have been predicted by others, including [[Richard Stallman]], in his article and essay ''The Right to Read''.
Flores has been described (in the journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'') as "a kind of [[The Lost World (Arthur Conan Doyle)|Lost World]]", where archaic animals, elsewhere long [[extinction|extinct]], had evolved into giant and dwarf forms through [[allopatric speciation]], due to its ___location East of the [[Wallace line]]. The island had [[dwarf elephant]]s (a species of ''[[Stegodon]]'', a prehistoric [[elephant]]) and giant [[monitor lizard]]s akin to the [[Komodo dragon]], as well as ''H. floresiensis'', which can be considered a species of diminutive human. The discoverers have called members of the diminutive species "[[hobbit]]s", after [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s fictional race of roughly the same height. In the [[mythology]] of the island, there were common references to a small furry man called [[Ebu Gogo]] even into the [[19th century]].
Other people predict the establishment of a [[dynamic equilibrium]] between repressive official and commercial and more free but in some cases illegal technologies, resulting in the emergence of [[darknet]]s and [[anonymous P2P]] systems, together with alternative networking systems (including but not limited to [[sneakernet]]s and both fixed and ad-hoc [[wireless mesh network]]s), and vivid [[underground culture]] and [[black market]] centered on them, in accordance with the [[iron law of prohibition]].
== Discovery ==
The first (and so far only) specimens were discovered by a joint [[Australia]]n-[[Indonesia]]n team of [[paleoanthropology|paleoanthropologists]] and [[archaeology|archaeologists]] looking on [[Flores]] for evidence of the original [[human migration]] of ''H. sapiens'' from [[Asia]] into [[Australia]]. They were not expecting to find a new species, and were quite surprised at the recovery of the remains of at least seven individuals of non-''H. sapiens'', from 38,000 to 13,000 years old, from the Liang Bua [[limestone]] [[cave]] on Flores. An arm bone, provisionally assigned to ''H. floresiensis'', is about 74,000 years old. Also widely present in this cave are sophisticated stone implements of a size considered appropriate to the 1 m tall human: these are at horizons from 95,000 to 13,000 years and are associated with juvenile ''[[Stegodon]]'', presumably the prey of Flores Man.
==See also==
The specimens are not [[fossil|fossilized]], but were described in a ''Nature'' news article as having "the consistency of wet blotting paper" (once exposed, the bones had to be left to dry before they could be dug up). Researchers hope to find preserved [[mitochondrial DNA]] to compare with samples from similarly unfossilised specimens of ''[[Homo neanderthalensis]]'' and ''H. sapiens''. The likelihood of there being preserved DNA is, however, low, as it degrades more rapidly in warm tropical environments; in such conditions it is known to degrade in as little as a few dozen years. Contamination from the surrounding environment seems highly possible given the moist environment in which the specimens were found.
*[[Trusted computing]]
== Small bodies ==
*[[Digital rights management]]
''[[Homo erectus]]'', thought to be the immediate ancestor of ''H. floresiensis'', was approximately the same size as another descendant species, modern humans. In the limited food environment on Flores, however, ''H. erectus'' is thought to have undergone strong [[island dwarfing]], a form of [[speciation]] also seen on Flores in several species, including a dwarf ''[[Stegodon]]'' (a group of [[proboscidea]]ns that was widespread throughout Asia during the [[Quaternary]]), as well as being observed on other small [[island]]s.
==External links==
Despite the size difference, the specimens seem otherwise to resemble in their features ''H. erectus'', known to be living in [[Southeast Asia]] at times coinciding with earlier finds of ''H. floresiensis''. These [[homology (biology)|observed similarities]] form the basis for the establishment of the suggested [[cladistics|phylogenetic relationship]]. Despite a controversial reported finding by the same team of alleged material evidence, stone tools, of a ''H. erectus'' occupation 840,000 years ago, actual remains of ''H. erectus'' itself have not been found on Flores, much less [[Transitional fossil|transitional forms]].
* [http://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/digital-imprimatur/ The Digital Imprimatur: How big brother and big media can put the Internet genie back in the bottle]
* [http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html The Right to Read] by [[Richard Stallman]].
[[Category:Digital rights management]]
The [[holotype|type specimen]] for the species is a fairly complete [[human skeleton|skeleton]] and near-complete [[skull]] of a 30-year-old female, nicknamed ''Little Lady of Flores'' or ''Flo'', about 1 [[metre|m]] (3 [[foot (unit of length)|ft]] 3 [[inch|in]]) in height. Not only is this a drastic reduction compared to ''H. erectus'', it is even somewhat smaller than the three million years older ancestor [[Australopithecine]]s, not previously thought to have expanded beyond [[Africa]]. This tends to qualify ''H. floresiensis'' as the most "extreme" member of the extended human family. They are certainly the shortest and smallest.
[[Category:Censorship]]
''Homo floresiensis'' is also rather tiny compared to the [[human height|modern human height]] and size of all peoples today. The estimated height of adult ''H. floresiensis'' is considerably shorter than the average adult height of even the physically smallest populations of modern humans, such as the African [[pygmy|Pygmies]] (< 1.5 m, or 4 ft 11 in), [[Twa]], [[Semang]] (1.37 m, or 4 ft 6 in for adult women), or [[Andaman Islands|Andamanese]] (1.37 m, or 4 ft 6 in for adult women). Mass is generally considered more [[biophysics|biophysically]] significant than a one-dimensional measure of length, and by that measure, due to effects of scaling, differences are even greater. The type specimen of ''H. floresiensis'' has been estimated as perhaps about [[1 E1 kg|25 kg]] (55 [[pound|lb]]).
''Homo floresiensis'' had relatively long [[arm]]s, perhaps allowing this small hominid to [[climbing|climb]] to safety in the [[tree]]s when needed.
When the first skull (that of 'Flo') was found, the first assumption was that it was a child. When it turned out to be a grown individual (closed [[fontanelle]]s and worn teeth), it was thought to be [[microcephaly|microcephalic]], but that theory is still disputed. And comparisons with modern human [[Achondroplasia|achondroplasiacs]] (about 1.2 m, or 3 ft 11 in) or other [[dwarfism|dwarf]]s, are also flawed, as these people are not generally proportionally smaller than other humans, only short-limbed.
== Small brains ==
[[Image:Floresiensis.jpg|thumb|left|The skull of ''H. floresiensis''.]]
In addition to a small body size, ''H. floresiensis'' had a remarkably small [[human brain|brain]]. The type specimen, at [[1 E-4 m³|380 cm³]] (23 [[cubic inch|in³]]), is at the lower range of [[chimpanzee]]s or the ancient [[Australopithecine]]s. The brain is reduced considerably relative to this species' presumed immediate ancestor ''H. erectus'', which at 980 cm³ (60 in³) had more than double the brain volume of its descendant species. Nonetheless, the [[brain to body mass ratio]] of ''H. floresiensis'' is comparable to that of ''[[Homo erectus]]'', indicating the species was unlikely to differ in intelligence.
Indeed, the discoverers have associated ''H. floresiensis'' with [[human behavior|advanced behavior]]s. There is evidence of the use of [[fire]] for [[cooking]]. The species has also been associated with [[stone tool]]s of the sophisticated [[Upper Paleolithic]] tradition typically associated with modern humans, who at 1310–1475 cm³ (80–90 in³) nearly quadruple the brain volume of ''H. floresiensis'' (with body mass increased by a factor of 2.6). Some of these tools were apparently used in the necessarily [[co-operation|cooperative]] [[hunting]] of local dwarf ''Stegodon'' by this small human species.
An indicator of intelligence is the size of region 10 of the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, which is associated with self-awareness and is about the same size as that of modern humans, despite the much smaller overall size of the brain.
Flores remained isolated during the [[Wisconsin glaciation]] (the most recent [[ice age]]), despite the low [[sea level rise|sea level]]s that united much of the rest of [[Sundaland]], because of a deep neighboring [[strait]]. This has led the discoverers of ''H. floresiensis'' to conclude that the species or its ancestors could only have reached the isolated island by [[ship transport|water transport]], perhaps arriving in [[bamboo]] [[raft]]s around 100,000 (?) (or if as ''H. erectus'', then about 1 million) years ago. This perceived evidence of advanced technology and cooperation on a modern human level has prompted the discoverers to [[hypothesis|hypothesize]] that ''H. floresiensis'' almost certainly had [[language]]. These suggestions have proved the most controversial of the discoverers' findings, despite the probable high intelligence of ''H. floresiensis''.
== Recent survival ==
[[image:Hobbit Flores.jpg|thumb|150px|right|The Hobbit (of [[Flores]]). Illustr. by Peter Schouten via the National Geographic Society]]
The other remarkable aspect of the find is that this species is thought to have survived on Flores until at least as recently as 12,000 years ago. This makes it the longest-lasting non-modern human, surviving long past the [[Neandertal|Neanderthals]] (''H. neanderthalensis'') who went extinct about 30,000 years ago. ''Homo floresiensis'' certainly coexisted for a long time with modern humans, who arrived in the region 35,000–55,000 years ago, but it is unknown how they may have interacted.
Local [[geology]] suggests that a [[volcano|volcanic eruption]] on Flores was responsible for the demise of ''H. floresiensis'' in the part of the island under study at approximately 12,000 years ago, along with other local fauna, including the dwarf elephant ''[[Stegodon]]''.
The discoverers suspect, however, that this species may have survived longer in other parts of Flores to become the source of the [[Ebu Gogo]] stories told among the local people. The Ebu Gogo are said to have been small, hairy, [[language]]-poor cave-dwellers on the scale of ''H. floresiensis''. Widely believed to be present at the time of the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] arrival during the [[16th century]], these strange creatures are said to have last been spotted as recently as the late [[19th century]].
Similarly, on the island of [[Sumatra]], there are reports of a one metre tall humanoid, the [[Orang Pendek]], which a number of professional scholars take seriously. Both footprints and hairs have been recovered. Scholars working on the Flores man have noted that the Orang Pendek may also be surviving Flores men still living on Sumatra.
== Significance ==
The discovery is widely considered the most important of its kind in recent history, and came as a surprise to the [[anthropology|anthropological]] community. The new species challenges many of the ideas of the discipline.
''Homo floresiensis'' is so different in form from other members of genus ''Homo'' that it forces the recognition of a new, undreamt-of variability in the genus, and provides evidence against linear evolution.
No doubt, this discovery provides more fuel for perennial debate over the [[Single-origin hypothesis|out-of-Africa]] or [[multiregional hypothesis|multiregional]] models of [[speciation]] of modern humans, despite ''H. floresiensis'' not itself being an ancestor of modern humans. Already, further arguments have been made on either side.
The discoverers of ''H. floresiensis'' fully expect to find the remains of other, equally divergent ''Homo'' species on other isolated islands of [[Southeast Asia]], and think it possible, if not quite "likely", that some lost ''Homo'' species could be found still living in some unexplored corner of [[jungle]].
[[Henry Gee]], a senior editor of the journal ''Nature'', has agreed, saying, "Of course it could explain all kinds of legends of the little people. They are almost certainly extinct, but it is possible that there are creatures like this around today. Large mammals are still being found. I don't think the likelihood of finding a new species of human alive is any less than finding a new species of [[antelope]], and that has happened" [http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041025/pf/041025-2_pf.html].
Gee has also written that "The discovery that ''Homo floresiensis'' survived until so very recently, in geological terms, makes it more likely that stories of other mythical, [[human]]-like creatures such as [[Yeti]]s are founded on grains of truth....Now, [[cryptozoology]], the study of such fabulous creatures, can come in from the cold"
[http://www.lorencoleman.com/top_cryptozoology_2004.html].
== Reaction ==
Professor [[Teuku Jacob]], chief [[paleontologist]] of the Indonesian [[Gadjah Mada University]] and other [[scientist|scientists]] reportedly disagree with the placement of the new finds into a new species of ''Homo'', stating instead "It is a sub-species of ''Homo sapiens'' classified under the Austrolomelanesid race". He contends that the find is from a 25–30 year-old [[omnivore|omnivorous]] subspecies of ''H. sapiens'', and not a 30-year-old female of a new species. He is convinced that the small skull is that of a mentally defective modern human, probably a [[pygmy]], suffering from the [[genetic disorder]] [[microcephaly]] or [[nanocephaly]]. Some scientists reportedly believe the skeleton found may be of a [[male]] and not a female.
When interviewed on the [[Australia|Australian]] television program ''[[Lateline (news)|Lateline]]'', Professor Roberts reportedly conceded that the skeleton may be that of a male rather than a female but he strenuously maintained the fossil is of a new species. A paper published in ''[[Science]]'' disputes the microcephaly theory.
== Access controversy ==
In late [[November]] and early [[December]] [[2004]], in an apparent arrangement with discoverer [[Radien Soejono]], Professor Jacob borrowed most of the remains from Soejono's institution, [[Jakarta]]'s National Research Centre of Archaeology, for his own research (apparently without the permission of the Centre's directors [http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3471304], [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=82&ObjectID=8500998], [http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/mg18424772.900], [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1386423,00.html]). Some expressed fears that, like the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]], important scientific evidence would be sequestered by a small group of scientists who neither allowed access by other scientists nor published their own research. However, Jacob returned the remains to the Centre, except for two leg bones, on [[23 February]], [[2005]] [http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20050228/01/].
==References==
''Homo floresiensis'' was first described in two papers which appeared in the journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'', a year after the discovery:
* Brown, P., ''et al.'' A new small-bodied hominin from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia. ''Nature'' '''431''':1055-1061 ([[October 27]] [[2004]]). [http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v431/n7012/abs/nature02999_fs.html&dynoptions=doi1110157786]
* Morwood, M. J., ''et al.'' Archaeology and age of a new hominin from Flores in eastern Indonesia. ''Nature'' '''431''':1087-1091 ([[October 27]] [[2004]]). [http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v431/n7012/abs/nature02956_fs.html&dynoptions=doi1110157850]
* Kate Wong. The littlest human. ''Scientific American'' February 2005: 40-49 [http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&colID=1&articleID=00030AD2-236B-11E8-A28583414B7F0000]
== External links ==
{{Wikispecies|Homo floresiensis}}
* [http://www.une.edu.au/news/archives/000098.html Press release] from [[University of New England, Australia]], where Profs. Morwood and Brown are Associate Professors.
* Journals and Science Revues
** [http://www.nature.com/news/specials/flores/index.html Coverage in News @ ''Nature''] (does ''not'' include the scientific paper)
** [http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=00082F87-7D35-117E-BD3583414B7F0000 ''Scientific American'' Interview with Professor Brown]
** [http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996588 New Scientist article]
** [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1027_041027_homo_floresiensis.html National Geographic: "Hobbit" Discovered: Tiny Human Ancestor Found in Asia]
**[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/03/0303_050303_tv_hobbit.html National Geographic: "Hobbit" Brains Were Small but Smart, Study Says]
**[http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/1109727/DC1 The Brain of LB1, Homo floresiensis] (journal- Science)
**[http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050228/full/050228-13.html Critics silenced by scans of hobbit skull] (Nature)
* Television programs
** [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/28/60minutes/main691775.shtml?CMP=ILC-SearchStories CBS News | In Search Of The Hobbit | May 3, 2005 01:18:10], transcript from [[CBS News]]' ''[[60 Minutes]]''
* News Sites
** [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1331905,00.html Times story: Mystery hobbit man lived alongside humans]
** [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/10/28/whuman228.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/10/28/ixnewstop.htmlTelegraph Telegraph News article with information on the "Ebu Gogo" myths]
** [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A2141-2004Oct27?language=printer Washington Post]
** [http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1388500,00.html The Guardian: Bones of Contention]
** [http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200411/r36240_90550.asx Video of the Lateline interview with Professor Richard Roberts] (ABC News) ''Australia''
** [http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2004/10/27/dwarf_hominid041027.html New find raises questions about earliest humans] (CBC News) ''Canada''
** [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=7802630 Tiny Early 'Hobbit' Human Was Smart, Skull Shows] (Reuters)
** [http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2005/03/03/hobbits050303.html 'Hobbit' dwarfs with smart brain, scans show] (CBC News)
* BBC News
** [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3964579.stm BBC News: Desmond Morris discusses the social impact of ''Homo floresiensis'']
** [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3948165.stm BBC News story: 'Hobbit' joins human family tree]
** [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4308751.stm Hobbit was 'not a diseased human']
** [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4268122.stm New 'Hobbit' disease link claim]
*Other Sites
**[http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/prehistoric_dwarf_041027.html Scientists Find Prehistoric Dwarf Skeleton] (LiveScience)
**[http://www.corante.com/loom/archives/2005/03/03/the_hobbits_brain.php The Hobbit's Brain by Carl Zimmer]
**[http://www.livescience.com/imageoftheday/siod_050304.html 'Hobbit' Brain Reconstructed] (LiveScience)
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