Legal Commentary

Scientific Evidence for the Lord of the Rings

By Ilya Somin

It turns out that Hobbits actually existed [HT: Tyler Cowen]:

Researchers from Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York have confirmed that Homo floresiensis is a genuine ancient human species and not a descendant of healthy humans dwarfed by disease. Using statistical analysis on skeletal remains of a well-preserved female specimen, researchers determined the ?hobbit? to be a distinct species and not a genetically flawed version of modern humans. Details of the study appear in the December issue of Significance, the magazine of the Royal Statistical Society, published by Wiley-Blackwell.

In 2003 Australian and Indonesian scientists discovered small-bodied, small-brained, hominin (human-like) fossils on the remote island of Flores in the Indonesian archipelago. This discovery of a new human species called Homo floresiensis has spawned much debate with some researchers claiming that the small creatures are really modern humans whose tiny head and brain are the result of a medical condition called microcephaly.

Researchers William Jungers, Ph.D., and Karen Baab, Ph.D. studied the skeletal remains of a female (LB1), nicknamed ?Little Lady of Flores? or ?Flo? to confirm the evolutionary path of the hobbit species. The specimen was remarkably complete and included skull, jaw, arms, legs, hands, and feet that provided researchers with integrated information from an individual fossil.

Frodo lives! I?m sure that science will eventually prove that elves, dwarves, orcs, and balrogs also once walked the Earth.

UPDATE: I should add that the existence of trolls even more ferocious than those described by Tolkien has already been proven beyond doubt in many parts of the blogosphere.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on December 08, 2009 (boomark / email).