Late Pleistocene Homo
Homo floresiensis
"Hobbit"
100–50 ka·50 ka·Discovered 2003
Description
Only 1 meter tall. Extreme insular dwarfism. Hunted pygmy elephants until 50,000 years ago.
Notable facts
- Stood only 1.06 meters tall
- Hunted Stegodon (pygmy elephants)
- Brain just 417 cc
- Survived until the arrival of H. sapiens
Key specimens
LB1
"Flo" — type specimen
Adult female skeleton found in 2003 at Liang Bua cave, Flores, Indonesia.
Mata Menge fossils
Older Flores fossils
700,000-year-old jaw fragments showing already-small body size.
Anatomy
Very small body and brain, large feet, primitive shoulder.
Locomotion
Bipedal but with unusual gait due to feet proportions.
Diet
Hunted dwarf elephants, giant rats, lizards.
Tools & culture
Stone tools, possibly fire use.
Where to see it
Indonesian Center for Archaeology, Jakarta.
Media & references
Image ·
Wikimedia Commons · Wikipedia article
Brown, Sutikna, Morwood, Soejono, Jatmiko, Wayhu Saptomo & Rokus Awe Due (2004). A new small-bodied hominin from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia. Nature.
doi: 10.1038/nature02999 ↗