Richards Gary D
Human Evolution Research Center, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
J Evol Biol. 2006 Nov;19(6):1744-67. doi: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2006.01179.x.
A new species, Homo floresiensis, was recently named for Pleistocene hominid remains on Flores, Indonesia. Significant controversy has arisen regarding this species. To address controversial issues and refocus investigations, I examine the affinities of these remains with Homo sapiens. Clarification of problematic issues is sought through an integration of genetic and physiological data on brain ontogeny and evolution. Clarification of the taxonomic value of various 'primitive' traits is possible given these data. Based on this evidence and using a H. sapiens morphological template, models are developed to account for the combination of features displayed in the Flores fossils. Given this overview, I find substantial support for the hypothesis that the remains represent a variant of H. sapiens possessing a combined growth hormone-insulin-like growth factor I axis modification and mutation of the MCPH gene family. Further work will be required to determine the extent to which this variant characterized the population.
一个新物种——弗洛勒斯人（Homo floresiensis），最近因印度尼西亚弗洛勒斯岛上更新世人类遗骸而得名。关于这个物种出现了重大争议。为了解决有争议的问题并重新聚焦研究，我研究了这些遗骸与智人的亲缘关系。通过整合关于脑个体发育和进化的遗传及生理数据来寻求对有问题的问题的澄清。鉴于这些数据，有可能澄清各种“原始”特征的分类学价值。基于这一证据并使用智人的形态学模板，构建模型来解释弗洛勒斯岛化石所显示特征的组合。鉴于此概述，我发现有大量证据支持这样的假设，即这些遗骸代表了智人的一个变种，其具有生长激素 - 胰岛素样生长因子I轴的组合修饰以及MCPH基因家族的突变。还需要进一步的研究来确定这个变种在多大程度上代表了该种群的特征。
