Prehistoric hobbits vanished 50,000 years ago - now we know why
An early human species dubbed "hobbits" for their diminutive size vanished from the world about 50,000 years ago - and now, we might finally know why.
Researchers from the University of Wollongong joined an international team of scientists to investigate the disappearance of homo floresiensis from the fossil record.
Evidence of the hobbits was first discovered in 2003 on the Indonesian island of Flores, where scientists found homo floresiensis had occupied Liang Bua cave for 140,000 years.
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An artistic impression of a hobbit, based on existing analysis. Robert Pearce
Due to their size, they challenged existing theories of human evolution.
Now, scientists have established what drove the hobbits to finally abandon their hole in the ground - a drought lasting thousands of years.
Testing chemical records from cave stalagmites alongside the fossilised teeth of a pygmy elephant species the hobbits hunted, the researchers found a severe drought took place in the region between 61,000 and 55,000 years ago.
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Liang Bua Cave in Flores, Indonesia. Getty
"The ecosystem around Liang Bua became dramatically drier around the time Homo floresiensis vanished," UOW Honorary Professor Mike Gagan, the lead author of the study, said.
"Summer rainfall fell and river-beds became seasonally dry, placing stress on both hobbits and their prey."
And when hobbits, faced with dwindling prey and shrinking water sources, struck out on their own, they may have met an even more implacable enemy.
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The fossilised teeth of a pygmy elephant helped identify a possible reason hobbits died out. Gerrit van den Bergh
While the hobbits predate the earliest evidence of modern humans on Flores, homo sapiens were travelling the Indonesian archipelago around the time their smaller cousins vanished.
"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."
The research can be found online here.
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