The extinct human species Homo floresiensis, nicknamed “hobbits” for their small stature, likely disappeared from the Indonesian island of Flores due to a prolonged and severe drought, according to a new study. The research suggests the drying climate stressed both the hobbits and their prey, potentially leading to their extinction around 50,000 years ago.
Drought Linked to Hobbit Extinction
An international team of researchers published their findings in the journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment, detailing how the ecosystem around Liang Bua cave, the hobbits’ primary habitat, became dramatically drier around the time of their disappearance. “Summer rainfall fell and river-beds became seasonally dry, placing stress on both hobbits and their prey,” said Michael Gagan, lead author of the study and a professor at the University of Wollongong in Australia.
Homo floresiensis skeletons, discovered beginning in 2003 within the Liang Bua cavern, are notable for their diminutive height, averaging around three and a half feet tall. Approximately a dozen skeletal remains have been found to date.
Researchers believe the hobbits lived on Flores between 100,000 and 60,000 years ago, and relied on now-extinct pygmy elephants as a primary food source. The initial discovery sparked debate regarding the origins of the species, with scientists considering whether they were the result of island-induced dwarfism or arrived on the island already small in stature. The cause of their extinction has also been a subject of ongoing investigation.
The current study determined the climate conditions by analyzing the chemical composition of stalagmites, which form from mineralized water droplets, and oxygen isotope levels within elephant teeth. This analysis revealed a decline in freshwater availability and the elephant population coincided with the disappearance of Homo floresiensis from the archaeological record.
Drier conditions began approximately 76,000 years ago, worsening between 61,000 and 55,000 years ago – a period that also saw the arrival of modern humans on the island. “It’s possible that as the hobbits moved in search of water and prey, they encountered modern humans,” Gagan said. “In that sense, climate change may have set the stage for their final disappearance.”
More on Homo floresiensis: Scientist Says There May Be a Species of Hobbit-Like Humanoids Hiding on an Island
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