New study reveals more on early ‘Hobbit’ humans in Indonesia’s Flores

Study shows ancestors of Homo floresiensis were even shorter and lived 700,000 years ago.

Twenty years ago scientists discovered fossils of an early human species that stood about 3.5 feet (1.07 meters) tall on the Indonesian island of Flores.

Now a new study suggests that the ancestors of the diminutive Homo floresiensis, nicknamed “Hobbits” after the fictional characters in The Lord of the Rings, were even shorter.

“We did not expect that we would find smaller individuals from such an old site,” study lead author Yousuke Kaifu from the University of Tokyo told the Associated Press news agency in an email.

The latest findings, published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, follow the 2016 discovery of a tiny arm bone and teeth at a site called Mata Menge, about 72km (45 miles) from the cave where the first fossils were unearthed.

Analysis of the 88mm (3.5 inches) bone suggests the Hobbits’ ancestors were about 1 metre (3.3 feet) tall and lived some 700,000 years ago.