Human ‘Hobbit’ Fossils Surprise Scientists With Smaller and More Ancient Specimens

In 2004, anthropologists connected the Indonesian land of Flores discovered the remains of a diminutive hominin, Homo floresiensis. Now, a antithetic squad of researchers has discovered teeth and forearm fossils of the alleged Hobbit species, which they accidental belonged to the smallest known idiosyncratic yet identified. These findings tease retired details of however these tiny hominins evolved.

“This precise uncommon specimen confirms our proposal that the ancestors of Homo floresiensis were highly tiny successful assemblage size; however, it is present evident from the tiny proportions of this limb bony that the aboriginal progenitors of the ‘Hobbit’ were adjacent smaller than we had antecedently thought,” said Adam Brumm,  an archaeologist astatine the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution astatine Griffith University successful Brisbane, successful a assemblage release.

Anthropologists recovered smaller, much past bones than before

The remains of H. floresiensis (pronounced flor-eh-see-en-sis) recovered successful 2004 were dated to astir 60,000 years old, astir 10,000 years earlier the species’ extinction. Researchers determined that the tiny humans lone grew to astir 3 feet and 7 inches (109 centimeters) arsenic adults. They rapidly became known arsenic the ‘Hobbits’ owed to their stature.

The caller research—published contiguous successful Nature Communications—details the teeth, jaw, and the fragment of a humerus (the agelong bony successful the precocious arm) which belonged to astatine slightest 4 H. floresiensis individuals immoderate 700,000 years ago. Every fossil was smaller than the remains uncovered astatine Liang Bua, which are astir 640,000 years younger.

“This 700,000-year-old big humerus is not conscionable shorter than that of Homo floresiensis, it is the smallest precocious limb bony known from the hominin fossil grounds worldwide,” Brumm said. The precocious discovered humerus was conscionable 3.46 inches (8.79 centimeters) long, starring the squad to reason that it belonged to an big idiosyncratic conscionable 3.28 feet (100cm) tall.

The probe “strengthens the nexus betwixt these aboriginal remains and the overmuch aboriginal illustration from Liang Bua, some successful presumption of morphology and a precise tiny assemblage size, adjacent successful adults,” said Chris Stringer, an anthropologist astatine London’s Natural History Museum who was not affiliated with the caller paper, successful an email to Gizmodo. “Being capable to way a azygous evolving hominin lineage implicit that clip standard holds large committedness for aboriginal research.”

The Mata Menge excavation successful 2014. Photo: Gerrit van den Bergh

‘Hobbit’ humans, insular dwarfism, and the hominin household tree

The Flores land humans persisted until astir 50,000 years ago, around erstwhile modern humans appear successful the fossil grounds successful Southeast Asia.

In 2019, anthropologists discovered different diminutive fossil quality species connected the land of Luzon successful the Philippines. The researchers determined that the species—Homo luzonensis—grew to astir the aforesaid tallness arsenic the Flores humans.

The hominins whitethorn person evolved to beryllium tiny arsenic a effect of insular dwarfism, a process by which taxon with entree to less resources shrink successful proportionality to what’s disposable to them. For example, H. floresiensis shared Flores with Stegodon, an extinct taxon of precise tiny elephant.

In 2021, a antithetic squad of researchers found grounds of interbreeding betwixt Denisovans—yet different radical of extinct hominins—and modern humans successful Southeast Asia, hinting that the small-statured taxon farther southbound could beryllium immoderate benignant of offshoot of the Denisovans. Since the Mata Menge Homo floresiensis are astir hundreds of thousands of years older than the earliest grounds for Denisovans, it seems much apt that these small-statured individuals did not descend from Denisovans. So however did the Flores Hobbits travel to be?

What the Homo floresiensis fossils mean for quality evolution

The caller squad posits that the Flores hobbits descended from Homo erectus successful Java. In their paper, the squad notes the similarities betwixt the much past species’ teeth and that of the 700,000-year-old hobbits. The squad besides cited chromatic tools recovered successful the So’a Basin arsenic an denotation that H. erectus became isolated connected Flores astir 1 cardinal years ago, and shrank successful size implicit the adjacent 300,000 years. But that is acold from a definite thing.

“Although the authors reason that these finds adhd to the likelihood that floresiensis ultimately evolved from Indonesian Homo erectus precursors, determination is inactive the puzzling beingness in floresiensis of wrist bones that intimately lucifer those of Australopithecus afarensis and chimpanzees, alternatively than humans,” Stringer said. “Perhaps aboriginal erectus ancestors inactive had specified wrist bones, oregon (what seems overmuch little apt to me) floresiensis re-evolved this much primitive anatomy successful the wrist.”

Stringer added that, portion a dwarfing process whitethorn person occurred connected Flores, it whitethorn person happened connected different islands successful the country similar Sumbawa oregon Sulawesi.

More fossils whitethorn assistance to explicate however the small-statured humans successful our household histrion emerged, arsenic good arsenic wherefore they disappeared. For now, a 700,000-year-old limb bony seems to suggest a caller grounds for the smallest past human.