Compare the Brains
LB1 and Homo erectus
At a glance, LB1's brain looks much like that of a shrunken
H. erectus, the extinct hominin best known by the Java Man
specimens. Indeed, the two brains are similar in height and width,
and both have a recognizably low, long lateral profile. To some
experts, such a similar shape strongly suggests an evolutionary
connection. But Falk's team does not believe the hobbit was a
miniaturized descendant of H. erectus. Its cranial capacity
was simply too small to be attributed to normal dwarfing of
H. erectus, they say.