Watch the Program

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The "Hobbit" Appears

Archeologists on the island of Flores, Indonesia, make a discovery that rocks the world of paleoanthropology—the skeleton of a three-foot-tall, 18,000-year-old adult that might represent a wholly new species of human.
running time 11:18

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What is this Thing?

Vigorous debate ensues over whether the tiny "hobbit" is merely a modern human shrunken by disease, a brand-new species, or something else. A close look at its brain size and shape offers some tantalizing clues.
running time 9:39

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Telling Remains

Detailed studies of the hobbit's teeth and wrist bones convince leading experts that Homo floresiensis, as the hobbit is known to scientists, is indeed a new species.
running time 11:09

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A Lot Like Lucy

Experts say the hobbit doesn't appear to be a mini version of Homo erectus (Java Man) that shrank over time on Flores, as large mammals often do on islands. Instead, a surprise: it bears a striking similarity to Lucy, the three million-year-old australopith from Africa.
running time 8:35

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Out of Africa Rewritten?

The anatomical resemblance to Lucy, along with surprising finds in Georgia of tiny skulls far older than the hobbit, challenge long-standing theories about the human exodus from Africa—that it took large brains to happen.
running time 8:19