The remains of a member of the smallest known prehistoric human species, measuring just one meter tall, were discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores.

The fossilized arm bone belonged to a tiny adult human that roamed the island 700,000 years ago, along with dwarf elephants, Komodo dragons and giant rabbit-sized rats. It is believed to be from a very early individual of the “hobbit” species Homo floresiensis, which has puzzled scientists since its discovery two decades ago.

The latest fossil suggests that this species’ body size decreased early and dramatically in response to the unique evolutionary pressures associated with being stranded on an island.

“Island dwarfism was already known from fossil remains of megafauna on islands in the Mediterranean and Indonesia, which were miniature versions of their mainland ancestors,” said Dr. Gert van den Bergh, a paleontologist and co-author from the University of Wollongong in Australia. “As far as animals are concerned, nobody has a problem with island dwarfism, but when it comes to hominins, it somehow seems harder to accept.”

The scientists behind the latest discovery say it supports the theory that the “hobbits” descended from Homo erectus, or Java man, an archaic hominin roughly similar in stature to us that somehow ended up stranded on Flores. The tiny arm bone is anatomically similar to previously discovered “hobbit” skeletons, while a newly discovered pair of teeth at the same site bears similarities to the teeth of Homo erectus – although they are much smaller.

This is an excerpt. The original article can be found here