Megan McArdle (guest-blogging at InstaPundit) links to a New York Times article on genetic differences between the races. ("Scientists seem to be converging on the view that there is more genetic basis than one side of the argument had hoped, although less than the other side had averred.")

What would surprise me would be if there weren't genetic differences between the races. Isn't genetics what defines races?

Anyway, as if racial genetics wasn't challenging enough, what about a distinct, very different human species which coexisted alongside modern humans until just 13,000 years ago?

This apparently true National Geographic report was a real eye-opener for me:

Scientists have found fossil skeletons of a hobbit-like species of human that grew no larger than a three-year-old modern child (See pictures). The tiny humans, who had skulls about the size of grapefruits, lived with pygmy elephants and Komodo dragons on a remote island in Indonesia as recently as 13,000 years ago.

Here's a picture of the little cutie, which they've named Homo floresiensis.

I've renamed him Homo hobbitis, because they've already been described as a hobbit-like species by the workers who did the digging.

Species, of course, is not race. The story is so bizarre that I checked to make sure today isn't April 1. Here's more:

Homo floresienses has been described as one of the most spectacular discoveries in paleoanthropology in half a century—and the most extreme human ever discovered.

The species inhabited Flores as recently as 13,000 years ago, which means it would have lived at the same time as modern humans, scientists say.

"To find that as recently as perhaps 13,000 years ago, there was another upright, bipedal—although small-brained—creature walking the planet at the same time as modern humans is as exciting as it was unexpected," said Peter Brown, a paleoanthropologist at the University of New England in New South Wales, Australia.

There is no evidence of modern humans reaching Flores before 11,000 years ago, so it is unknown whether the hobbit intermingled with modern humans. The researchers found hobbit and pygmy stegodon remains only below a 12,000-year-old volcanic ash layer. Modern human remains were found only above the layer.

Still, rumors, myths, and legends of tiny creatures have swirled around the isolated island for centuries. It's certainly possible that they interacted with modern humans, according to the researchers.

"Looked at from a regional perspective, we definitely have modern humans in Australia from at least 40,000 years ago, and in Borneo from at least 43,000 years ago," Roberts said. "So there was temporal overlap between the hobbits and ourselves from at least 40,000 years ago until at least 18,000 years ago—more than 20,000 years minimum. What was the nature of their interaction? We have absolutely no idea. We need more sites and more hard evidence, and that's the next phase of our investigation."

Hey, all I can say is read the rest, and don't blame me if someone's having one at the expense of National Geographic.

(It probably wouldn't be the first time.....)

MORE: While it's not yet a big name vacation spot, I see that there's already a small tourist industry in Flores, Indonesia. Perhaps the UN should move now to have the area designated as a "Hobbitat for Humanity."