Fossils suggest even smaller ‘hobbits’ roamed an Indonesian island 700,000 years ago



This photo provided by Yousuke Kaifu shows an arm bone fragment excavated on the Indonesia island of Flores. New research suggests ancestors of an early human species nicknamed “hobbits” were even shorter. (Yousuke Kaifu via AP)


This image provided by the University of Tokyo shows the Mata Menge humerus fragment, left, at the same scale as the humerus of Homo floresiensis from the Liang Bua cave on the island of Flores, Indonesia. (Yousuke Kaifu/University of Tokyo via AP)


This photo provided by Gerrit van den Bergh shows the Mata Menge excavation site on the Indonesia island of Flores on Oct. 15, 2014. Researchers uncovered fossils at the site that suggest ancestors of the “hobbits” were even smaller and lived around 700,000 years ago. (Gerrit van den Bergh via AP)


This photo provided by Gerrit van den Bergh shows the Mata Menge excavation site on the Indonesia island of Flores on Sept. 9, 2019. Researchers uncovered fossils at the site that suggest ancestors of the “hobbits” were even smaller and lived around 700,000 years ago. (Gerrit van den Bergh via AP)


BY ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN
August 6, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Twenty years ago on an Indonesian island, scientists discovered fossils of an early human species that stood at about 3 1/2 feet (1.07 meters) tall — earning them the nickname “hobbits.”

Now a new study suggests ancestors of the hobbits were even slightly shorter.

“We did not expect that we would find smaller individuals from such an old site,” study co-author Yousuke Kaifu of the University of Tokyo said in an email.


RELATED STORIES


Science paints a new picture of the ancient past, when we mixed and mated with other kinds of humans


We carry DNA from extinct cousins like Neanderthals. Science is now revealing their genetic legacy


When the first warm-blooded dinosaurs roamed Earth

The original hobbit fossils — named by the discoverers after characters in “The Lord of the Rings” — date back to between 60,000 and 100,000 years ago. The new fossils were excavated at a site called Mata Menge, about 45 miles from the cave where the first hobbit remains were uncovered.

In 2016, researchers suspected the earlier relatives could be shorter than the hobbits after studying a jawbone and teeth collected from the new site. Further analysis of a tiny arm bone fragment and teeth suggests the ancestors were a mere 2.4 inches (6 centimeters) shorter and existed 700,000 years ago.

“They’ve convincingly shown that these were very small individuals,” said Dean Falk, an evolutionary anthropologist at Florida State University who was not involved with the research.

The findings were published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

Researchers have debated how the hobbits – named Homo floresiensis after the remote Indonesian island of Flores – evolved to be so small and where they fall in the human evolutionary story. They’re thought to be among the last early human species to go extinct.

Scientists don’t yet know whether the hobbits shrank from an earlier, taller human species called Homo erectus that lived in the area, or from an even more primitive human predecessor. More research – and fossils – are needed to pin down the hobbits’ place in human evolution, said Matt Tocheri, an anthropologist at Canada’s Lakehead University.

“This question remains unanswered and will continue to be a focus of research for some time to come,” Tocheri, who was not involved with the research, said in an email.
___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.