An international team of archaeologists and other researchers has discovered new fossils belonging to an extremely rare species of early human on the Indonesian island of Flores. Homo floresiensis Scientists have likened them to J.R.R Tolkien’s Hobbits. Lord of the Ring Due to its small height, it is not seen in this series. The three bones date to about 700,000 years ago. Homo floresiensisor the “Hobbits” of Flores Island.
Details of the newly discovered fossils The study was published in the journal Nature on August 6th. Nature Communications and Contains the first bone under the head of one of these Human race.
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Animals of unusual size
Indonesia is known for its unusually large non-human animals, so the presence of a small human species makes scientific sense. They are called relatives of elephants. Stegodon, Giant 15-pound rat, giant alligatorand many other organisms once lived within this biodiverse assemblage.
Evidence for these early humans It was first discovered in 2003.in Liang Bua Cave, The late archaeologist Mike MorwoodArchaeological evidence suggests that humans were only about 3.4 feet tall, had small brains, and lived up to 50,000 years ago. Homo sapiens It has long been established in southern Australia.
However, exactly how these southeast Asian hominins became so miniature, and their origins, remain a matter of considerable debate. Homo floresiensis They were small descendants of early Asians. Homo erectusAnother theory is that they are late survivors of an older human species that lived in Africa. Homo erectusIf so, it is Homo habilis Or the infamous super-strong “Lucy” (Australopithecus afarensis).
Since when did it get so small?
This fossil New Research The discovery was made at Mata Menge, further away from the Liang Bua cave. This open-air site is located in the sparsely populated tropical grasslands of the Soa Basin, about 46 miles east of the cave. Archaeologists have discovered several human fossils. It included jaw fragments and six teeth, found in layers of sandstone deposited by a stream about 700,000 years ago.
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The new fossils also About 650,000 years before the Liang BuaThese are from at least three individuals that may have had slightly smaller jaws and teeth than the original. Homo floresiensis Specimen suggests hominin from Flores island evolved small body size early on.
However, previous excavations at Meta Menge had yet to uncover a key piece of the puzzle. Postcranial elementsThe lower skull bones of this species have yet to be found, and without them it would be impossible to be sure that these hominins were at least as large or smaller. Homo floresiensis.
Some important bones
Importantly, this research team Belongs to the first subtemporal element Homo floresiensisThey found the distal shaft of an adult humerus, or the bottom half of the upper arm bone.
Digital microscopic examination of the fossil determined that the tiny humerus belonged to an adult. The team used the bone’s length to calculate height, which was Approximately 3.2 feet tallThis is about two inches shorter than its estimated length 60,000 years ago. Homo floresiensis A skeleton (approximately 3.4 feet tall) discovered in Liang Bua Cave.
“This 700,000-year-old adult humerus is Homo floresiensis“This is the smallest humerus in the world known from the human fossil record,” says study co-author Adam Blum, an archaeologist at Griffith University in Australia. It said in a statement“This extremely rare specimen Homo floresiensis Although its body size was extremely small, the small size of these limb bones reveals that the early ancestors of the ‘hobbit’ were even smaller than we previously thought.”
The two teeth from Mata Menge are also smaller in size, with one of them having similar shape characteristics that most closely match the earlier one. Homo erectus From JavaHowever, this similarity Homo floresiensis Evolved from an earlier, more primitive type of human.
More fossil record needed Piecing together the bigger story Of this small group of human kin.
“The evolutionary history of Flores hominins is still largely unknown,” Blum said, “but the new fossils suggest that the Hobbit story is… Homo erectus “Maybe a million years ago, it somehow became isolated on this remote Indonesian island, and over time its body size decreased dramatically.”
