Researchers from Australia's
University of Wollongong have recently uncovered the fossilized remains of
ancient hominins in Liang Bua, Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, which appear to be
the ancestors of the tiny human species Homo florensiensis, discovered there
more than a decade ago. (Reuters Photo/Liang Bua Team)
Researchers from Australia's
University of Wollongong have recently uncovered the fossilized remains of
ancient hominins in Liang Bua, Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, which appear to be
the ancestors of the tiny human species Homo florensiensis, discovered
there more than a decade ago.
Dr Gert van den Bergh from the University
of Wollongong's Center for Archaeological Science, led the team that excavated
the remains from layers of sedimentary rock at a site on Flores Island. The
remains include a lower right jaw fragment and six teeth from at least one
adult and two juveniles.
Van den Bergh said the entire team was
surprised at the size of the adult jawbone.
"We expected to find something
larger, something closer to the original founder population of Homo erectus,
but they were just as small, if not smaller, than the Homo floresiensis,"
the researcher said.
Remains of the 1-meter-tall Homo
florensiensis, affectionately dubbed the "Hobbit," were discovered in
a cave on the island 12 years ago. Not only are the fossils and stone tools from
the most recent discovery clearly belonging to the hobbit's ancestors, they are
also strikingly similar to those found in 2004, which provides new insights
into the origins of the species.
Some scientists speculate that Homo
florensiensis may have shrank due to insular dwarfism, an evolutionary process
that results in a species reducing in size after being isolated on a small
island for a long time with little access to resources.
However, researchers were taken aback by
the size of the most recently discovered fossils, found to be about 700,000
years old, as they indicate that the ancestors Homo florensiensis were tiny to
begin with.
It has been theorized that normal-sized Homo
erectus from Java migrated to Flores more than a million years ago, but
scientists are still unsure of how they got there.
The early human species would be too
primitive to build boats, and swimming would be not have been an option.
Some researchers, however, speculate that
they have been swept across by a giant tidal wave.
On the other hand, professor Chris
Stringer of London's Natural History Museum hypothesized that the ancestors may
have migrated from Sulawesi, although he still has no evidence to prove his hypothesis.
Meanwhile, Dr Adam Brum of Australia's
Griffiths University hopes that he and the research team will gather more
remains to complete the puzzle.
A research paper titled "Age and
Context of the Oldest Known Hominin Fossils From Flores" was published in
the international science journal Nature on Wednesday (08/06).
When Homo floresiensis was first
classified as a new species in 2004, scientists were stunned because it
suggested that these tiny hominins existed well after modern human had evolved.
Only three other early human species are believed to have had interaction with
modern humans.
The research team back then compared the
hominin's skull, face, teeth, and limb bones to the Rampasasa pygmies, who
currently live on Flores. According to the analysis, the hobbits and Rampasasa
pygmies share many features.
However, the results of a study led by Robert Martin
of the Field Museum of Chicago published in the journal Science in
May 2006, concluded that the "hobbits" were diseased modern humans, not
a new species. By : Ratri M. Siniwi
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