Homo Floresiensis on EARTH Magazine

New dating of 'hobbit' sheds light on when it lived

Mon, 15 Aug 2016 13:18:41 -0400

A reconstruction of Homo floresiensis by Atelier Elisabeth Daynes. Credit: Kinez Riza.

Since 2004, when scientists first announced the discovery of fossil remains of a new species of hominin from Indonesia — dubbed Homo floresiensis and nicknamed “hobbits” due to the species’ meter-tall stature — researchers have been trying to pinpoint exactly when H. floresiensis lived and when it died off. Several recent studies shed light on the topic.

New fossils illuminate 'hobbit' evolutionary history

Wed, 08 Jun 2016 14:52:48 -0400

A reconstruction of Homo floresiensis by Atelier Elisabeth Daynes. Credit: Kinez Riza

Scientists first discovered fossils of Homo floresiensis — a species of extinct 1-meter-tall hominins nicknamed “hobbits” — in Liang Bua cave on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2004. Until now, H. floresiensis, thought to have lived between about 95,000 and 50,000 years ago based on recent evidence, was the only extinct hominin known to have lived on Flores, although artifacts discovered on the island dating to 800,000 to 1 million years ago pointed to earlier hominin habitation. Now, in two new studies published in Nature, researchers announce the discovery of hobbit-like hominin fossils found elsewhere on the island that are roughly 700,000 years old. The new remains, if confirmed, would extend the age range of the hobbit lineage, and may help researchers piece together why H. floresiensis became so small.

Earliest fossil evidence of humans in Southeast Asia?

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Archaeologists excavating Callao Cave in the Philippines. Armand Salvador Mijares

This 67,000-year-old foot bone may be evidence of the oldest-known humans in the Philippines. Armand Salvador Mijares

Modern humans reached the islands of Southeast Asia by approximately 50,000 years ago, but our ancestors’ journey was not easy. Even during times of low sea level, a voyage to some of these islands would have required crossing open water, leaving many scientists to wonder how humans arrived on the most isolated islands. Now the story is growing more complicated: A group of archaeologists has discovered a 67,000-year-old foot bone that they say represents the earliest-known presence of humans in the northern Philippines and may be among the oldest-known traces of modern humans in all of Southeast Asia — that is, if the bone truly belongs to Homo sapiens. The bone’s small size and unusual features make it difficult to determine exactly which species of Homo it was — Homo sapiens, Homo floresiensis or something else?

Paleo Patrol: A hominin family reunion at the Smithsonian

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Erin Wayman (pictured in Cardiff, Wales) writes Paleo Patrol for EARTH. Spencer Wayman

Last month, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., unveiled its new (permanent) human evolution exhibit: the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins. The exhibit seeks to answer the millennia-old question, What does it mean to be human?

There and back again: Alien From Earth tells the tale of the Hobbit

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

A computer animation of a hobbit. PixelDust

Ling Bua cave, on the island of Flores in Indonesia, where the Hobbit was found. Annamaria Talas

Two lower jaws found at the dig site in Flores. The hobbit's teeth give important clues to its origins. Djuna

The hobbit's foot may be key to determining its origins. Djuna

For many years, local legend on the Indonesian island of Flores told of an elflike creature with large feet and a voracious appetite that lived alongside humans. Flores was already a mythical sort of place, featuring (now-extinct) dwarf elephants, Komodo dragons and giant rats the size of rabbits.

Third hominin coexisted with modern humans and Neanderthals

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Outside of Denisova Cave, where 'X-woman' was discovered. Bence Viola

Modern humans and Neanderthals lived side by side on the Eurasian landscape for tens of thousands of years — but it turns out they weren’t alone, much to researchers’ surprise. A team of researchers has found a hominin bone in a Siberian cave containing DNA that doesn’t match up with either known hominin species at that time, the researchers reported in Nature today, indicating that these humans shared the continent with a third, unknown hominin.