Small discoveries in Indonesia are causing a stir in the science world .Researchers have unearthed (挖掘)tiny bones that they believe belong to an entirely new human species .If that’s true ,it will change how we think about our ancestors .
Clues that the little people may have lived long ago were first revealed last year in the scientific journal Nature .Scientists said that they had found the bones of a three-foot-tall female on the island of Flores, in Indonesia .When they looked more closely ,they saw that the nearly complete skeleton(骨骼)belonged to a full-grown adult. Researchers named her Hobbit,after the tiny heroes of the Lord of the Rings books.
Now the team is saying it has unearthed even more pieces of the puzzle ,including a jawbone and parts of arms ,legs and hands from several individuals, as well as stone tools .They reported their find in Nature this month. “The new evidence makes it very clear that these people are a new species ,distinct from modern humans,”Peter Brown, a scientist on the team ,said. They named these ancient humans Homo floresiensis.
Brown says that these little people lived as recently as 12,000 years ago.If Homo floresiensis was a different species from modern humans, that would make our family tree bigger than we knew. It means, says Brown, that “until recently ,a relative shared the planet with us. ”
Many scientists think a new species is unlikely .Some argue that the bones must have belonged to modern humans whose small size was the result of a genetic problem.
Daniel E. Lieberman,a scientist at Harvard University,thinks that the debate over the discovery is healthy. He believes that the questions and arguments raised by critics will help us learn more about these unusual skeletons.”Disagreement is an important part of the scientific process,”Lieberman said.“ As far as I’m concerned,the story’s only just begun. ”

印度尼西亚的小发现在科学世界引起了骚动。研究员挖掘微小的骨头，他们相信这些骨头属于一个全新的人种。如果情况属实，它将改变我们对我们的祖先认识。

有线索显示小型人也许在很久以前生活在地球上，科学期刊[自然]杂志首次揭露了这些线索了。科学家说，在印度尼西亚的Flores海岛，他们曾发现一位个子高大的三脚女性的骨头。当他们更进一步研究时，这个生长完全的成人几乎具有完全的骨骼。 研究员们把这个古人命名为Hobbit，是以[指环王]中的小英雄命名的。考古队说现在他们发掘了关于这个谜团更多的事情，包括不同人身上的颚骨，部分四肢，手掌的骨头，同时也有石制工具。

他们在这个月的【自然杂志】发表了他们的发现 “新的证据讲明这些人是一个新的种类，与现代人截然不同， ” 考古队的一位科学家，彼得.布朗说。 他们把这些古人称作智人。
布朗说这些小型人生活在大约12000年以前。如果智人是与现代人不同的种类，那我们的家谱要比现在的大得多。 布朗说，那将意味着知道最近，我们的旁亲和我们分享生活在这个行星。 ”
许多科学家认为一个新的种类是不太可能的。一些争辩说，骨头一定是属于体型较小的现代人的，而小体型是由于基因原因造成的。
Daniel E. Lieberman，哈佛大学的一位科学家，认为关于新发现的辩论是有益的。 他相信评论家提出的论据将帮助我们非同寻常的骨骼了解得更多.”“反对意见是是科学过程的一个重要部分， ”Lieberman 说：“在我看来，探索的路程才刚刚开始。

文章好像很久了。一个人过年没什么意思。算是翻译东西找点乐趣。
新年快乐啦！