Homo floresiensis | |
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H. floresiensis skull, Cantonal Museum of Geology, Switzerland | |
Scientific 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
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Binomial name | |
†Homo floresiensis Brown et al., 2004
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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]
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