ANCIENT “hobbits” recently discovered in Indonesia were not an early form of modern human but an entirely different species, scientists have found.
The ancient hobbits, who would have stood at 3.5 foot tall, were found at Liang Bua on the island of Flores in 2003.
Ancients hobbits who once lived in Indonesian most likely evolved from an ancestor in Africa and are not a dwarf descendant of Homo erectus as has been widely believed
Experts initially believed the Homo Floresiensis – or Flores man – were just a shrunken variety of early humans.
But a study by The Australian National University (ANU) found the race were most likely a different species altogether.
Researchers think they were related to a sister species of Homo habilis – one of the earliest known ancestors of modern mankind which lived in Africa 1.75 million years ago.
Dr Debbie Argue from the ANU School of Archaeology & Anthropology said the results should help solve a debate that has been hotly contested ever since Homo floresiensis was discovered.
She said: “The analyses show that on the family tree, Homo floresiensis was likely a sister species of Homo habilis.
“It means these two shared a common ancestor.
“It’s possible that Homo floresiensis evolved in Africa and migrated, or the common ancestor moved from Africa then evolved into Homo floresiensis somewhere.”
Dr Argue said the analyses also supported the theory that Homo floresiensis could have branched off earlier in the timeline, more than 1.75 million years ago.
“If this was the case Homo floresiensis would have evolved before the earliest Homo habilis, which would make it very archaic indeed,” she said.
Dr Debbie Argue holds a reconstructed Homo Floresiensis skull
Professor Mike Lee of Flinders University and the South Australian Museum, used statistical modeling to analyse the data.
He said: “When we did the analysis there was really clear support for the relationship with Homo habilis.
“Homo floresiensis occupied a very primitive position on the human evolutionary tree.
“We can be 99 per cent sure it’s not related to Homo erectus and nearly 100 per cent chance it isn’t a malformed Homo sapiens.”
The study was published in the Journal of Human Evolution.
A Homo Floresiensis skull
Charles R
They assume it ancestors came out of Africa. Why is that? Could not simultaneous arrival of human type bipeds be taking place? Or could this be an ancestor or relative of the Sumatra Orange Pendek that are shorter than their potential Yeti, Almasty relatives?
Antonio C
Could these be the same dwarf specie as the ones seen by the man in his new home by the horse stables ?
Amy H
Charles, it’s not really an assumption. You can trace genes back to specific regions of the world. We wouldn’t know if it is a relative of Orang Pended, Yeti or Almost because those are yet to be discovered critters.
The evidence that exists points to Homo coming out of Africa. There was a long-lasting debate/argument from the 80’s to the early part of the 2000’s regarding Homo simultaneous arrivals on other continents. http://www.nature.com/scitable/content/out-of-africa-versus-the-multiregional-hypothesis-6391
There seems to be MANY Homo’s that once existed. It’s more like a bush then a tree!