Homo floresiensis

"LB1" redirects here. For the stellar-mass black hole in the Milky Way, see LB-1.

Homo floresiensis
Temporal range:
Late Early Pleistocene-Late Pleistocene
1–0.05 Ma
↓
Skull with associated mandible.
H. floresiensis skull, Cantonal Museum of Geology, Switzerland
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Family: Hominidae
Subfamily: Homininae
Tribe: Hominini
Genus: Homo
Species:
†H. floresiensis
Binomial name
†Homo floresiensis
Brown et al., 2004
Flores in Indonesia, shown highlighted in red

Homo floresiensis ( /flɔːrˈɛziːˌɛn.sɪs/), also known as "Flores Man" or "Hobbit" (after the fictional species), is an extinct species of small archaic humans that inhabited the island of Flores, Indonesia, until the arrival of modern humans about 50,000 years ago.

The remains of an individual who would have stood about 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) in height were discovered in 2003 at Liang Bua cave. As of 2015, partial skeletons of fifteen individuals have been recovered, including one complete skull, referred to as "LB1".[1][2]

Homo floresiensis is thought to have arrived on Flores around 1.27–1 million years ago.[3][4] There is debate as to whether H. floresiensis represents a descendant of Javanese Homo erectus that reduced its body size as a result of insular dwarfism, or whether it represents an otherwise undetected migration of small, Australopithecus or Homo habilis-grade archaic humans outside of Africa.[5]

This hominin was at first considered remarkable for its survival until relatively recent times, initially thought to be only 12,000 years ago.[6] However, more extensive stratigraphic and chronological work has pushed the dating of the most recent evidence of its existence back to 50,000 years ago.[7][8][9] The Homo floresiensis skeletal material at Liang Bua is now dated from 60,000 to 100,000 years ago; stone tools recovered alongside the skeletal remains were from archaeological horizons ranging from 50,000 to 190,000 years ago.[7] Other earlier remains from Mata Menge date to around 700,000 years ago.[10]

  1. ^ Brown, P.; et al. (27 October 2004). "A new small-bodied hominin from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia" (PDF). Nature. 431 (7012): 1055–1061. Bibcode:2004Natur.431.1055B. doi:10.1038/nature02999. PMID 15514638. S2CID 26441.
  2. ^ Morwood, M. J.; et al. (13 October 2005). "Further evidence for small-bodied hominins from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia". Nature. 437 (7061): 1012–1017. Bibcode:2005Natur.437.1012M. doi:10.1038/nature04022. PMID 16229067. S2CID 4302539.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference tocheri2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Morwood, M. J.; et al. (27 October 2004). "Archaeology and age of a new hominin from Flores in eastern Indonesia". Nature. 431 (7012): 1087–1091. Bibcode:2004Natur.431.1087M. doi:10.1038/nature02956. PMID 15510146. S2CID 4358548.
  7. ^ a b Sutikna, Thomas; Tocheri, Matthew W.; Morwood, Michael J.; et al. (30 March 2016). "Revised stratigraphy and chronology for Homo floresiensis at Liang Bua in Indonesia". Nature. 532 (7599): 366–369. Bibcode:2016Natur.532..366S. doi:10.1038/nature17179. PMID 27027286. S2CID 4469009.
  8. ^ Ritter, Malcolm (30 March 2016). "Study: Indonesia "hobbit" fossils older than first thought". Associated Press. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  9. ^ Amos, Jonathan (30 March 2016). "Age of 'Hobbit' species revised". BBC News. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  10. ^ Kaifu, Yousuke; Kurniawan, Iwan; Mizushima, Soichiro; Sawada, Junmei; Lague, Michael; Setiawan, Ruly; Sutisna, Indra; Wibowo, Unggul P.; Suwa, Gen; Kono, Reiko T.; Sasaki, Tomohiko; Brumm, Adam; van den Bergh, Gerrit D. (6 August 2024). "Early evolution of small body size in Homo floresiensis". Nature Communications. 15 (1): 6381. doi:10.1038/s41467-024-50649-7. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 11303730. PMID 39107275.