Tiny arm bone unlocks mystery of Indonesia's extinct 'Hobbit' people

[Grim Reaper 6]

 When researchers excavated fossilized fragments of a rod-shaped bone 3-1/2 inches (88 mm) long at a site called Mata Menge on Indonesia's Flores island, the pieces initially were bagged and marked "crocodile bone fragment?" It was only later that they realized what they actually were.

These fragments, dating to about 700,000 years ago, of the upper arm bone, called the humerus, comprise the smallest limb bone known for any member of the human evolutionary lineage - an adult individual of the diminutive extinct species Homo floresiensis "The Hobbit."

Based on the bone's size, the researchers concluded the individual stood about 3 feet 3 inches (one meter) tall - about three inches (6 cm) shorter than the estimated height of the famous 60,000-year-old Homo floresiensis fossil uncovered in 2003 at the Liang Bua cave site roughly 50 miles (75 km) away.

Tiny arm bone unlocks mystery of Indonesia's extinct 'Hobbit' people | Reuters

[+DieChecker]

10 minutes ago, Grim Reaper 6 said:

 When researchers excavated fossilized fragments of a rod-shaped bone 3-1/2 inches (88 mm) long at a site called Mata Menge on Indonesia's Flores island, the pieces initially were bagged and marked "crocodile bone fragment?" It was only later that they realized what they actually were.

These fragments, dating to about 700,000 years ago, of the upper arm bone, called the humerus, comprise the smallest limb bone known for any member of the human evolutionary lineage - an adult individual of the diminutive extinct species Homo floresiensis "The Hobbit."

Based on the bone's size, the researchers concluded the individual stood about 3 feet 3 inches (one meter) tall - about three inches (6 cm) shorter than the estimated height of the famous 60,000-year-old Homo floresiensis fossil uncovered in 2003 at the Liang Bua cave site roughly 50 miles (75 km) away.

Tiny arm bone unlocks mystery of Indonesia's extinct 'Hobbit' people | Reuters

So these tiny people lived there the better part of a million years? Amazing! And were already dwarfs at the time of this earlier fossil.

I think that would mean theyre decended from Homo Erectus, and not Homo Sapiens.

 

Edited August 6 by DieChecker

[Grim Reaper 6]

1 minute ago, DieChecker said:

So these tiny people lived there the better part of a million years? Amazing! And were already dwarfs at the time of this earlier fossil.

 

Yes they were, their size was the direct result of what is known as Insular Dwarfism. This is the process and condition of large animals evolving or having a reduced body size when their population's range is limited to a small environment, primarily islands.

[NCC1701]

On 8/6/2024 at 9:43 PM, Grim Reaper 6 said:

Yes they were, their size was the direct result of what is known as Insular Dwarfism. This is the process and condition of large animals evolving or having a reduced body size when their population's range is limited to a small environment, primarily islands.

The problem with that theory is that Flores is not a small island. With it's lush vegetation and tropical seas there should have been enough nutrition for any group of humans. Nowadays nearly 2 million people live there.

[Grim Reaper 6]

3 minutes ago, NCC1701 said:

The problem with that theory is that Flores is not a small island. With its lush vegetation and tropical seas there should have been enough nutrition for any group of humans. Nowadays nearly 2 million people live there.

Actually paleontologist would disagree with you based upon extensive research since the Hobbits discovered in 2004. Here is some interesting reading you may be interested in produced by the Royal Society of Biology dated June 21, 2017.

Thanks for your comments.

Island Rule, quantitative genetics and brain–body size evolution in Homo floresiensis: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2017.1065