Summary:
- New research shows Homo floresiensis ancestors were about 3.3 feet tall.
- The tiny arm bone discovered in 2016 dates back 700,000 years.
- Study suggests island dwarfism played a key role in their evolution.
A recent study has uncovered that the ancestors of the Homo floresiensis, often called “Hobbits” for their small stature, were even shorter than previously known. The research, published in Nature Communications, reveals that these early humans stood around 3.3 feet tall and lived approximately 700,000 years ago.
The study builds on a 2016 discovery of a small arm bone and teeth at Mata Menge, located 45 miles from where the original fossils were found. The tiny bone, initially thought to be from a child, was confirmed to belong to an adult through microscopic analysis.
Yousuke Kaifu from the University of Tokyo, who led the study, expressed surprise at the findings. Dean Falk from Florida State University, not involved in the research, confirmed that these were indeed very small individuals.
The study also supports the theory that Homo floresiensis descended from Homo erectus, an earlier human species. The similarities between the fossils from Mata Menge and those of Homo erectus suggest that the smaller size of the Hobbits was a result of island dwarfism—a process where species evolve smaller sizes due to limited resources on isolated islands.
Adam Brumm from Griffith University’s Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution noted that this size reduction likely occurred over a long period due to environmental pressures on the island. Gerrit van den Bergh from the University of Wollongong added that smaller body size provided advantages in times of food scarcity.
The findings provide new insights into human evolution and the impact of isolation on species development. Homo floresiensis, which lived on Flores Island, went extinct soon after Homo sapiens arrived in the region, suggesting a possible interaction between the two species.
