The Incredible Shrinking Man

Cope’s rule states that, as geologic time progresses, body size increases. Edward Drinker Cope, the dinosaur fossil hunter who postulated the rule at the end of the 19th century, based his theory on the analysis of over 1500 fossil families. The younger species in his collection were on average almost 10% larger than the older species [...]

Homo floresiensis, nicknamed “hobbit”, is an extinct human species discovered in 2003 on the island of Flores in Indonesia. Partial skeletons of nine individuals have been recovered, including one complete skull. This hominin is remarkable for its small body and brain and for its survival until as recently as 12,000 years ago.
The first set of [...]