The archaeologist who led the research team that discovered the controversial new human species called the "Hobbit" will give his first public lecture in the Northern Territory next week.
Professor Mike Morwood, from Wollongong University, will speak on the topic "Little lady with big implications: life, times and death of the Hobbits of Flores" at the lecture on Charles Darwin University’s Casuarina campus.
Standing just one metre tall and with a brain the size of a drink can, the Hobbit discovery has caused international public interest and intense debate among scientists.
"The Hobbits had some extremely primitive traits previously only found in ancestral human species in Africa, but managed to survive on the Indonesian island of Flores until just 12,000 years ago," Professor Morwood said. They survived along with pygmy elephants, giant rats and Komodo dragons.
During the public lecture which will be hosted by the School for Environmental Research, Professor Morwood will speak about discovering the Hobbit, its implications for the dispersal of early humans out of Africa, the peculiarities of evolution on islands, and his research on other islands in the region.
The free public lecture will run from 12noon to 1pm on Monday May 26 at the CDU's Mal Nairn Auditorium. It will be broadcast into the Alice Springs campus, room 15.1.13 in the higher education building. All welcome.