Homo loompis: are Oompa-Loompas a distinct hominin species?
Keywords:
Film, Book, Genetics, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Oompa-LoompaAbstract
Oompa-Loompas work in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, where they also live, having been brought there from their previous home on the island of Loompa. Here we explore whether they can be considered a distinct hominin species. Their inclusion into the hominin clade is first established through traits and characteristics because molecular evidence is unavailable. Using the limited evidence (largely visual observations) their species status is then validated under both the phenetic and biological species concepts.
References
Dahl, R. (1964) Charlie and chocolate factory. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Dahl, R. and Seltzer, D. (1971) Charlie and Chocolate Factory. [Film] Directed by Mel Stuart. Paramount British Pictures. First released (UK) 20 August 1971.
Dahl, R. and August, J. (2005) Charlie and Chocolate Factory. [Film] Directed by Tim Burton. Warner Brothers Pictures. First released (UK) 9 July 2005.
Eplett, L. (2016) For Oompa-Loompas, Orange Was the New Black, Gastronomica, 16(2), pp. 12-17. DOI: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26362342
Harcourt-Smith, W.H.E. (2012) The First Hominins and the Origins of Bipedalism, Evolution: Education and Outreach, 3, pp. 333-340. DOI: 10.1007/s12052-010-0257-6
Young, N.M., Wagner G.P. and Hallgrímsson, B. (2010) Development and the evolvability of human limbs, PNAS, 107(8), pp. 3400-3405. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0911856107
Jackson, D.E. and Ratnieks, F.L.W. (2006) Communication in ants, Current Biology, 16(15), DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2006.07.015
McDonald, M.A., Mesnick, S.L. and Hilderbrand, J.A. (2006) Biogeographic characterization of blue whale song worldwide: Using song to identify populations, Journal of Cetacean Research and Management, 8(1), pp. 55-65.
Beaudet, A. (2017) The Emergence of Language in the Hominin Lineage: Perspectives from Fossil Endocasts, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 11:427. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00427
Taylor, P.J. (2009) Evolution and the Species Concept, in Minelli, A and Contrafatto, G Biological Science Fundamentals and Systematics – Volume I, EOLSS Publishers, pp. 289-309.
Gregory, T.R. (2009) Understanding Natural Selection: Essential Concepts and Common Misconceptions, Evo Edu Outreach, 2, pp. 156-175. DOI: 10.1007/s12052-009-0128-1
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. All content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC-BY 4.0).
