Unraveling the mystery of the pint-sized human relatives known as “hobbits” has sparked intense discussions among scientists. A recent discovery of a small arm bone suggests that these ancient humans only reached their diminutive stature after arriving on an Indonesian island a million years ago.
The Homo floresiensis, believed to have been tool users, have intrigued researchers since the first fossils hinting at their existence were unearthed on the island of Flores in 2003. Despite living on the island as recently as 50,000 years ago, these hobbits were much smaller than our own species, Homo sapiens.
Prior estimates based on teeth and a jawbone found in a cave indicated that hobbits were around 1.06 meters tall. However, the recent discovery of an upper arm bone and teeth at an open-air site on the island suggests that some hobbits stood just one meter tall approximately 700,000 years ago.
The minuscule size of the bone initially led researchers to believe it belonged to a child. This new finding sheds light on the evolution and history of these fascinating ancient humans.
2024-08-10 13:15:03
Post from phys.org
