Still alive !!!

Deborah Smith reports;

The bones of seven members of Homo floresiensis found in the cave are so young they have not yet turned to stone, making it much more likely genetic material could be extracted.

OMG OMG OMG. Bones young enough to contain DNA. Bones that have not fossilised !!! The implications !!!

"Could they have persisted somewhere else on the island? Yes, they could have done," said Professor Roberts.

"There are lots of local folk tales in Flores about these people, which are consistent and incredibly detailed.

"The stories suggest there may be more than a grain of truth to the idea that they were still living on Flores up until the Dutch arrived in the 1500s.

"The stories suggest villagers would leave gourds with food for them to eat, but legend has it these were the guests from hell - they'd eat everything, including the gourds."

Cute

"I wouldn't be surprised if modern humans consumed them," said associate Professor Morwood.

"I look forward to finding grisly archaeological evidence of that."

Not cute.