Image courtesy of Lanmas via
Alamy
Joel Kontinen
Darwinian evolution and climate change seem to be the standard for how the hobbits died out, but the only solution to this dilemma was that
these humans suffered from a disease that made their heads grow small.
We might not forget that the all are the descendants of Adam and Eve.
Homo floresiensis — a small ancient human species
nicknamed the
"hobbit" — may have gone extinct around 50,000 years ago
because declining rainfall levels reduced the prey available for hunting. This
may have forced them to migrate to areas where they competed with modern
humans, new research suggests.
The rainfall shortage would not have been the only reason
why they went extinct, the team noted. A volcanic eruption that occurred around
50,000 years ago may also have been a significant factor in their extinction.
So far, fossils of the hobbit have been found in only one
cave, known as Liang Bua, on Flores island in Indonesia. Since the discovery
of H. floresiensis was first reported publicly in 2004, scientists have been trying to determine how the
diminutive species lived and why it went extinct.
Now, in a paper published Monday (Dec. 8) in the
journal Communications Earth & Environment, scientists report
that rainfall on the island appears to have declined considerably before 50,000
years ago. They also found that the population of Stegodon, a genus of a
now-extinct elephant relative that the hobbits hunted, also diminished before
vanishing from Flores around 50,000 years ago.
to determine how rainfall on the island changed, the team
studied a stalagmite from Liang Luar, a cave on Flores that is close to Liang
Bua. Stalagmites grow
when water evaporates and forms calcium carbonate. The new growth also has
small amounts of other minerals, such as magnesium. Stalagmites don't grow as
fast during times of water shortage, and the growth that does occur tends to
have less calcium carbonate and more magnesium, the researchers noted in their
paper. This means that by measuring the ratio of magnesium to calcium
carbonate, the team can determine when rainfall decreased or increased, and by
how much.
The researchers found that average annual rainfall declined
from 61.4 inches (1,560 millimetres) 76,000 years ago to 40 inches (990 mm)
61,000 years ago. The island continued to have this reduced rainfall level
through 50,000 years ago. At that point, there was an eruption at a nearby
volcano, and a layer of ejected rock covered the island.
When the team analyzed the remains of Stegodon teeth,
they found that the number of these animals decreased on the island between
61,000 and 50,000 years ago, before vanishing after the eruption. The
researchers think the reduction in rainfall led to a decrease in Stegodon populations,
making life more difficult for the hobbits as they formed a major part of their
diet.
As rainfall declined, Stegodon populations may have
migrated to the coasts of the island, with the hobbits following them.
"We suspect that if the Stegodon population were
declining due to reduced river flow then they would have migrated away to a
more consistent water source," Nick Scroxton, a research scientist of hydrology,
paleoclimate and paleoenvironments at University College Dublin and co-author
of the paper, told Live Science in an email. "So it makes sense for the
hobbits to have followed."
It's possible that moving to the coast could have brought
the hobbits into contact with Homo sapiens groups
who were expanding throughout the region. This contact could have resulted in
competition for resources and even intergroup conflict, Scroxton suggested.
Additionally, the volcanic eruption around 50,000 years ago would have made
things even worse for the hobbits.
"This looks like a very impressive study," said Julien
Luoys, a palaeontologist at Griffith University in Australia who has
conducted extensive research on hominins but was not involved in the new
research, told Live Science in an email. A reduction in rainfall can have a
major impact on an island as small as Flores, he noted.
"There's only a limited amount of space on an island,
and only so many types of environments that can be harboured," Luoys said.
"When things get drier, an animal can't simply move off the island, and
any potential refugia they could use are going to either disappear or become
very crowded, very quickly."
Debbie
Argue, an honorary lecturer in the School of Archaeology and Anthropology
at the Australian National University, who was not involved in the work, also
praised the research. "The paper gives us an excellent insight into a
changing climatic environment in the region and is a most welcome contribution
to knowledge about past conditions on Flores," Argue said.
Source:
Owen Jarus 2025 The 'hobbits' may have died out when drought forced them to compete with modern humans, new research suggests | Live Science 8. December
Posts
