Why Did the Hobbits, Homo floresiensis, Vanish Around 50,000 Years Ago on an Isolated Island? — Here’s What Researchers Found Out

Over 50,000 years ago, on an isolated island in Indonesia, there was a hominin species that developed to be only slightly above 3 feet tall. Thus, they were nicknamed the Hobbits, or Homo floresiensis. It is estimated that they may have lived on this island for hundreds of thousands of years.

However, around 50,000 years ago, they met their fate and became extinct as a species. But what exactly could have happened to these smaller humans who were alone on the isolated island of Flores? Could it be because of a natural disaster such as a volcanic eruption? Or was their extinction more deliberate? Let’s explore these ideas and questions in this article, beginning with their arrival on the island.

Arrival and Island Life

Homo floresiensis appears to have lived on the island of Flores for a very long time, enough that they could have actually evolved from another human species that was bigger than them. Evidence gathered from archaeological sites on the island, like Mata Menge sites, suggests that their ancestors were already living there hundreds of thousands of years before them.

In other words, it means that the Hobbits’ appearance and stature may have been developed in response to their environment. They were small, not because they were disadvantaged, but rather their body type could be evolutionary advantageous on this specific island.

One of the clues for this hypothesis was their coexistence with other animals or creatures that also experience dwarfism. Examples would be Stegodon or dwarf elephants, and giant rats, which probably underwent the opposite, which was gigantism.

These are creatures who became small or big because of their environment. Different species, based on their sizes, may have evolved in the opposite direction on the island of Flores because of the selective pressure generated by the island, which exposed hominins and animals to limiting conditions.

Read more: Newsweek

Island Pressures and Limiting Conditions

Concerning Hobbits - The Story of Homo floresiensis ~ with DR KAREN BAAB

One of the conditions created by the island of Flores was the limited amount of food supply. Creatures stuck in this environment means they had to adapt to what the island could provide. This could be what led the Hobbits to become small, along with other animal species.

It is because they have fewer resources, so their bodies also became small over time. Those hominins that may have had a bigger stature are probably more expensive in terms of food and energy to grow and maintain. So, since the island is limited in resources, the individuals that have smaller bodies may have had an evolutionary advantage that helped them survive, for hundreds of thousands of years, such could be the case for the Hobbits.

On the other hand, the animals that grew in the opposite direction and became larger than their normal size were exposed to an environment where there were not enough predators to hunt them. For already large species, the island of Flores has few resources, but for smaller creatures, like rodents, it is very abundant. There may also be less competition for the same food that they consume, and combining all, these factors are what lead to the gigantism of select usually smaller species.

For a hominin of its size, the Hobbits still possess some human characteristics, such as their ability to use stone tools and hunt or scavenge local animals. Given their estimated long existence on their island, as suggested by the development of their size, they are most likely very attuned and adapted to this specific environment, so what could be the reason for their eventual extinction?

Theories for Extinction

If the Hobbits, or Homo floresiensis, were existing on the island for so long that they evolved a smaller stature in response to the environment, then what could be some of the reasons they went extinct? One of the biggest possibilities is the arrival of Homo sapiens, or the modern human species, in the area.

The hobbit’s estimated extinction was around 50,000 years ago, and it coincides with the dispersal of Homo sapiens from Africa to different continents like Europe, Asia, and Australia. But there were no clear signs yet that the two human species had met and interacted. So, other theories were developed.

One of the reasons could be because of climate change, which could have shifted their environment. An isolated island like Flores could be more affected by tiny changes in weather patterns, glacial periods, and temperature fluctuations. This is because of the already limited resources in the environment, that if the climate shifts, the species living in this habitat could have their numbers decline rapidly.

A fragmented or low population could result in many different negative outcomes. First, it will make them prone to inbreeding, which could generate more genetic diseases at birth. Another would be that their genetic pool would be less diverse, making them vulnerable to biological diseases or natural disasters. A genetic bottleneck would have made the Hobbits on the path to extinction.

There was also a newer theory that states a volcanic eruption around 50,000 years ago, as suggested by the sediment layers, is the reason why the Hobbits were wiped out. Even if the eruption did not directly eradicate the Homo floresiensis, it may have reduced their already limited resources, causing an indirect extinction event.

However, all of these reasons could actually be right and happened at that time. The hobbits may have needed to compete with Homo sapiens, who recently arrived; they may have also encountered several ice ages and climate changes, and a volcanic eruption could have also added some more challenges to their survival. This mix of pressures combined would be too big a change for the Hobbits to adapt to.

Read more: Scientific American

Modern Human Arrival and Its Effects

HOT (Human Origins Today) Topic: Homo floresiensis: The "Hobbits" of Human Evolution

While there were no signs of the direct arrival of humans being the cause of Homo floresiensis’ extinction, it is still considered one of the most significant pressures that they may have faced. The hobbits were already living on the island for thousands of years, which meant that they were heavily adapted to the conditions of the environment.

In other words, it is possible that the introduction of a new factor, such as a competitor who was smarter, larger, and more technologically advanced, was one of the main reasons why they’re gone now. If the modern humans had really arrived around 50,000 years ago on this island, they would have made the Hobbits faced several challenges and pressures.

One of them could be the diseases that Homo sapiens carried. The hobbits may not have been adapted to them, and it wiped them out. It could also be an indirect influence on their extinction, such as humans hunting more efficiently of their resources and outcompeting them in their own habitats.

Modern humans were often considered to be one of the biggest factors for why most of the other hominin species, like Neanderthals, Denisovans, and more, became extinct. It is because our arrival often coincides with the estimated timeline of other hominins’ extinction. This could very well be the case for the Homo floresiensis, too.

Maybe our species, Homo sapiens, is just more adapted to this world than the rest. But, it is more likely that the extinction of these other hominins was caused by a combination of factors, such as climate change, depletion of resources, biological diseases, genetic bottlenecks, and the arrival of competitors.

Author's Final Thoughts

The hobbits, or Homo floresiensis, are one of the most fascinating hominins who were still walking with us just around 50,000 years ago. Their stature and size may have been an evolutionary response to their environment. It could also be a testament to how long they have existed in that isolated island of Flores.

However, just like many other hominins, they disappeared, most likely because of a combination of factors, one of which is the arrival of the modern human species. Still, to be able to exist for hundreds of thousands of years, they have achieved success as a species in a lone place, in the middle of the seas. Though the hobbits are gone now, their existence should remind us that human history is filled with arrivals and disappearances of various species, before we came to be who we are today.

Read next: Why Did the Rise of Agriculture Over 10,000 Years Ago Lead to Unprecedented Large-Scale Warfare? — Here’s What Researchers Found

References & Further Reading

Sutikna, T., et al. (2016). Revised stratigraphy and chronology for Homo floresiensis at Liang Bua in Indonesia. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature17179

van den Bergh, G. D., et al. (2016). Homo floresiensis-like fossils from the early Middle Pleistocene of Flores. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature17999

O’Connell, J. F., et al. (2018). When did Homo sapiens first reach Southeast Asia and Sahul? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1808385115

Natural History Museum. (n.d.). Homo floresiensis: the real-life ‘hobbit’? https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/homo-floresiensis-hobbit.html

Smithsonian Institution. (2022). Homo floresiensis. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History—Human Origins Program. https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-floresiensis