2024-08-06 19:21:17
Twenty years ago, on an Indonesian island, scientists discovered fossils of a primitive human species that measured around 1.07 meters, earning them the nickname “hobbits.”
A new study suggests that the ancestors of the hobbits were actually slightly smaller.
“We did not expect to find smaller individuals at such an ancient site,” admitted Yousuke Kaifu, co-author of the study at the University of Tokyo, in an email.
The earliest hobbit fossils date back to 60,000 to 100,000 years ago. The new fossils were unearthed at a site called Mata Menge, about 70 kilometers from the cave where the first hobbit remains were discovered.
In 2016, after studying the jaws and teeth taken from the new site, researchers suspected that the early relatives might have been smaller than the hobbits. Further analysis of a tiny fragment of arm bone and teeth suggests that the ancestors were approximately six centimeters smaller and existed around 700,000 years ago.
“They convincingly demonstrated that these were individuals of very small size,” estimated Dean Falk, an evolutionary anthropologist at Florida State University, who was not involved in the research.
The findings were published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.
Researchers debated how the hobbits ― named Homo floresiensis after the isolated Indonesian island of Flores ― evolved to become so small and their place in the history of human evolution. They are thought to be among the last primitive human species to go extinct.
Scientists still do not know whether the hobbits shrank compared to a larger previous human species, called Homo erectus, that lived in the area, or compared to an even more primitive human predecessor. According to Matt Tocheri, an anthropologist at Canada’s Lakehead University, further research ― and fossils ― are needed to determine the place of hobbits in human evolution.
“This question remains unanswered and will continue to be a subject of research for some time to come,” said Mr. Tocheri, who did not participate in the study, in an email.