Who's the real 'Hobbit' here?
Homo Floresiensis... Hobbit...Little People..
What should we call these hominids?!
What should we call these hominids?!
No one likes calling species by their scientific name. So, it wasn't surprising when this 3 foot tall species was nicknamed 'Hobbit' (Flood 1).
However by calling these hominids 'Hobbits', many people who are unfamiliar with Homo floresiensis may believe that anthropologists are referring to J.R.R. Tolkien's hobbits.
OR (this is going out on a limb here) they may even believed that the fossils of Homo floresiensis were once real life characters of The Lord of the Rings...
... it doesn't help that the release of the film The Hobbit is coming this December.
The usage of this nickname in academia has recently gotten into trouble with 'Saul Zaentz Company/Middle-earth Enterprises' who own the rights of the 'Hobbit' trademark (Flood 1). When Dr. Brent Alloway, associate professor at Victoria University in New Zealand, tried to name his lecture on Homo floresiensis 'The Other Hobbit,' he was met with threats of copyright infringement (Flood 1).
Now the lecture is called: "A Newly Discovered Species of Little People – Unravelling the Legend behind Homo floresiensis"
Little People? Might as well call them Liliputians! (But that might be copyright infringement as well)
Even though the term 'hobbit' is found in Oxford English Dictionary and is "frequently referred to in the scientific literature" on Homo floresiensis, Dr. Alloway still had difficulty using the term 'Hobbit' for his publicized event (Flood 1).
So what should we call this hominid? Is the term 'hobbit' too
relative to J.R.R. Tolkien's fantastic creatures? And is the film
company abusing their power over the trademark 'Hobbit'?
relative to J.R.R. Tolkien's fantastic creatures? And is the film
company abusing their power over the trademark 'Hobbit'?
Flood, Alison. "Hobbit banned as title of lecture on prehistoric 'hobbit.'" The Guardian. Guardian
News and Media Limited, 2012.
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