'Interesting mutation' you say

[Locutus]

Nine ribs you say.

Is this really human? DNA tests on six-inch skeleton of 'alien-looking' creature with over-sized head prove it was actually human claim scientists in new documentary

• 10 years ago the bones of a six-inch skeleton with a large head were found in Chile
• There was speculation that the Atacama humanoid, nicknamed Ata, was either an aborted fetus, a monkey or even an alien
• Now scientists at Stanford University have carried out conclusive DNA tests which have found the remains are those of a mutated human

read on:


Is this really human? DNA tests on six-inch skeleton of 'alien-looking' creature with over-sized head prove it was actually human claim scientists in new documentary | Mail Online

 

[karrie]

It would explain the prevalence of 'Tom Thumb' stories throughout history, if their claim is true that it was a mutated child who lived for six to eight years before dying and being dumped at the abandoned church.

 

[Zipperfish]

Fake. Fails the allometric scaling test. A human-like creature that size would have, proportionally, much thinner bones than we have.

Allometry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[lone wolf]

Doesn't that vary according to gravity?

 

[petros]

Fake. Fails the allometric scaling test. A human-like creature that size would have, proportionally, much thinner bones than we have.

Allometry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Those leg bones are massive.

 

[gerryh]

Fake. Fails the allometric scaling test. A human-like creature that size would have, proportionally, much thinner bones than we have.

Allometry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

irrelevant, it has already been classified as a mutation and thusly will not necessarily follow the allometric scaling test.

 

[Zipperfish]

irrelevant, it has already been classified as a mutation and thusly will not necessarily follow the allometric scaling test.

Good point. It would have been born dead or lived only minutes. Still pretty improbably though. I'm going with fake.

 

[gerryh]

Good point. It would have been born dead or lived only minutes. Still pretty improbably though. I'm going with fake.

why?


and before you dig yourself a bigger hole, there are genetic mutations that live well into their 50's and later whose skeletal structure does not follow your rule.

 

[karrie]

Fake. Fails the allometric scaling test. A human-like creature that size would have, proportionally, much thinner bones than we have.

Allometry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

'human-like' is outside the assertion made by the article. You'd need to apply the allometry of human mutations, not the allometry of evolved functional species comparisons.

irrelevant, it has already been classified as a mutation and thusly will not necessarily follow the allometric scaling test.

Okay, karrie's just repeating what Gerry said. lol.

 

[Zipperfish]

The likeihood, from my point of view, is that since the surface area/volume increases significantly for a human being so small, the rate of heat loss (a function of surface area) would increase much faster than the the rate of heat production (a function of volume). Incidentally this is why small shrews can starve to death in minutes in colder temepratures; they simply cannot eat calories fast enough to compensate for the calories they are losing through heat loss.

In order to prevent catastrophic heat loss for a human this size, I would imagine it wiould have to have a heart rate of around 400 bpm (probably more given the improbably high cross sectional area of the bones in the picture). I can't see a human being suriviving long where such a heart rate would be required. I assumed a height of 15 cm and a mass of 2 kg, but might be off on the mass.

Does that make any sense? I hope so. :lol:

 

[karrie]

The likeihood, from my point of view, is that since the surface area/volume increases significantly for a human being so small, the rate of heat loss (a function of surface area) would increase much faster than the the rate of heat production (a function of volume). Incidentally this is why small shrews can starve to death in minutes in colder temepratures; they simply cannot eat calories fast enough to compensate for the calories they are losing through heat loss.

In order to prevent catastrophic heat loss for a human this size, I would imagine it wiould have to have a heart rate of around 400 bpm (probably more given the improbably high cross sectional area of the bones in the picture). I can't see a human being suriviving long where such a heart rate would be required. I assumed a height of 15 cm and a mass of 2 kg, but might be off on the mass.

Does that make any sense? I hope so. :lol:

While it might make perfect sense in the world of guess work, I'd suggest that it makes more sense to wait on the actual write up from the scientists studying it hands on.

Apparently the scientist at Stanford who has been studying it and come to these conclusions.... that it was a male, born within the last 100 years, lived to be 6 to 8 years old, contains genetic markers that place it born to an indigenous Chilean mother... will be releasing his final paper when it is properly written. I for one am really looking forward to reading what he's found, I find it fascinating. But what I won't be doing is guessing.

 

[gerryh]

But what I won't be doing is guessing.

Well........ you're just no fun at all.

 

[Zipperfish]

While it might make perfect sense in the world of guess work, I'd suggest that it makes more sense to wait on the actual write up from the scientists studying it hands on.

Apparently the scientist at Stanford who has been studying it and come to these conclusions.... that it was a male, born within the last 100 years, lived to be 6 to 8 years old, contains genetic markers that place it born to an indigenous Chilean mother... will be releasing his final paper when it is properly written. I for one am really looking forward to reading what he's found, I find it fascinating. But what I won't be doing is guessing.

Well, that is surpsring. So much for my street cred as a scientist, I guess. :lol:

In my defence, from the study:

As an emergency physician, I have delivered premature infants, as well as a
significantly deformed one with anencephaly, and am struck by how small and
fragile this humanoid is. Medically speaking, IF this is merely a deformed
human, it does not seem feasible that he would have lived to be 6-8 years of
age. Speaking as a clinician, I, as well as other doctors with whom I have
spoken, doubt he would have lived 6 hours. consistent with a human fetus of this
size.

 

[karrie]

Well, that is surpsring.

Most of it was in the article that the OP linked to, so I don't see why it's surprising at all.

 

[Zipperfish]

Most of it was in the article that the OP linked to, so I don't see why it's surprising at all.

The OP was the Daily Mail, so I had to find a better source. Hate to break the news to you, but it ain't the most reputable paper in the world. Here's another of today's headlines: "Baby-faced woman, 21, jailed for 15 years after leading vigilante gang to kill a wrongly accused rape suspect in brutal attack which left him looking like the 'Elephant Man'" :lol:

 

[karrie]

I went hunting down other sources too, because like you, I tend to not believe a xenophobic rag of a paper. The Huffington Post had a great write up on it.

 

[gerryh]

The OP was the Daily Mail, so I had to find a better source. Hate to break the news to you, but it ain't the most reputable paper in the world. Here's another of today's headlines: "Baby-faced woman, 21, jailed for 15 years after leading vigilante gang to kill a wrongly accused rape suspect in brutal attack which left him looking like the 'Elephant Man'" :lol:

how about this one

Six Inch Alien Discovered In Chile: DNA Analysis Reveal Shocking Identity Of Skeleton; Is It Human? [PHOTOS] [VIDEO] - International Science Times


more to your liking?

 

[Locutus]

http://siriusdisclosure.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Chile-Specimen_GPN-Summary.pdf

 

[Zipperfish]

how about this one

Six Inch Alien Discovered In Chile: DNA Analysis Reveal Shocking Identity Of Skeleton; Is It Human? [PHOTOS] [VIDEO] - International Science Times


more to your liking?

Thanks gerry--I found the report that this article is based on on the Sirius site (the TV program covering this?). Shocking, if true, is all I can say. I would not have guessed that something like that would survive 6-8 years.