Hobbits also join the human family tree
LB1 is the skeleton of an adult woman less than one meter tall
Scientists have discovered a new species of dwarf humans who lived in Indonesia at the same time as Homo sapiens, and at the same time when our ancestors filled the whole world. The new species, which was nicknamed the hobbit due to its dwarf size, lived in Flores Islands until 12 thousand years ago.
Details of the exciting find are described in the current issue of the journal Nature.
The find is considered one of the most significant of its kind in several decades. Australian archaeologists uncovered the bones when excavating a site called Liang Bua, one of the many sandstone caves scattered around Flores.
The remains of part of a skeleton were found at a depth of 5.9 meters. Initially, the investigators believed that it was the body of a child, but a deeper investigation revealed that this is not the case. Jewels on the teeth and the growth lines of the bone proved that it was an adult, the pelvis indicated that it was a female and some of the leg bones indicated that this woman walked on two legs like us.
"When we received data on the age of the skeleton, we were surprised at how young it is, and some of the scientists who work with us think that this must be a mistake because the skeleton has so many archaic and primitive characteristics," said one of my colleagues at my age, Mike Morewood, a professor of archeology at the University of New England in Australia.
The woman's skeleton is 18 years old, and is known as Liang Boa 1 or LB1 for short, and it was classified as a new species named Homo floresiensis. She was one meter tall and had long arms and a skull the size of a grapefruit. Since the discovery, the remains of six more individuals of the same species have been found.
LB1 shared an island where rats the size of golden retrievers, giant deer and giant bugs also lived including Komodo dragons and pony-sized dwarf elephants called stegodons, which the hobbits almost certainly hunted.
Chris Stringer, head of human ancestry at London's Natural History Museum, said the long arms were an interesting feature and may indicate that Homo fluoresiensis spent most of their time in the trees.
"We're not sure about that, but if the Komodo lizards are constantly threatening you, it's better to be with your babies in the trees, where you'll feel safe. This is another thing that will require further research, but the fact that they had long arms at least makes it possible to suggest it." Prof. Stringer said in an interview with the BBC. According to him, additional arms and legs should be investigated, if and when they are found, to answer the question.
Homo floresiensis almost certainly evolved from another species of human known as Homo erectus, whose remains were discovered on the Indonesian island of Java. Homo erectus arrived in Flores about a million years ago. They developed physical characteristics unique to them due to the conditions of isolation provided by the island.
"What is surprising is that this race had to reach Flores Island by boat. However, to build a vessel that would sail in the open water is considered something that is beyond the intellectual capacity of Homo erectus.
Legendary creatures
Even more interesting is the fact that today's Flores residents have legends about the existence of little people on the island, who were nicknamed Ebu Gogo. The islanders described Abu Gogo as being about a meter tall, hairy and tending to mumble to each other in a certain kind of language. They could also repeat things that modern humans said in a kind of action like parrots do.
"There have always been legends about little people - Ireland has the Leprechauns and Australia has the Yowies. I believe that some of the feelings are of the spoken history that goes back to the survival of such small people until the last period. says second partner Peter Brown, also a professor of archeology at the University of New England.
The last evidence of this type of man is from 12 thousand years ago, when a volcanic eruption wiped out almost all the unique animals of Flores Island. However, there are hints that Homo Florisiensis survived even beyond that. The myths say that Abu Gogo lived when Dutch explorers arrived a few hundred years ago on the island and the last legend describing these mythological creatures dates back to a century ago. However, Henry Gee (Gee), a senior editor in the journal Nature, says that there is a chance that some such people still exist, possibly in the unexplored tropical forests of Indonesia.
According to Prof. Stringer, the findings will require a rewriting of our knowledge of human evolution," he added. "Another species of humans that lived up to 12 thousand years ago is an amazing thing."
Homo florisensis evolved its tiny size in response to threats and resources on the island. "When creatures of a certain species get stuck on an island, they develop in a new and unexpected direction. Some species increased and others decreased," explained Dr. Gee.
The sophistication of the stone tools found with the hobbits surprised some of the scientists because they had a very small brain, 380 cc (about the size of a chimpanzee). "The idea that a certain size of the brain is needed to do something smart has been defeated because of these findings" testified Dr. Gee.
Since the remains are relatively fresh and not fossilized, the scientists hope to extract DNA samples from them, which can provide them with a new perspective on the line of human evolution.
Anyway, some scientists joked this week that the fact that little people fill the folklore of Flores Island legends these days has made scientists think we should also take the legend of Bigfoot Whitey more seriously (although the person who faked the Bigfoot footprints and invented the legend will be discovered).
For news at the BBC
