According to new research published in Science Advances and reported by CNN, we had hobbit-like ancestors, and apparently they had an appetite worthy of Tolkien’s hobbits. These tiny human relatives lived alongside Komodo dragons on the Indonesian island of Flores and, instead of hunting giant prey themselves, they were a bit more opportunistic, as they waited for the world’s largest lizards to finish eating before helping themselves to what was left.
Since the discovery of Homo floresiensis in Liang Bua Cave in 2003, archaeologists have debated whether these three-foot-tall hominins were sophisticated hunters able to bring down elephant-sized Stegodon and control fire. The new evidence suggests, nope. They couldn’t be bothered. These were chilled dudes who absolutely were not going to take down anything elephant-sized other than an elephant-sized appetite.
How Scientists Discovered the ‘Hobbits’ relied on Komodo Dragons for Hunting
Researchers compared cut marks on ancient Stegodon bones with fresh bite marks made by a Komodo dragon named Rinca during feeding experiments at Zoo Atlanta. The researchers found that dragon tooth marks clustered on the meatiest parts of the carcass, while stone tool cuts from Homo floresiensis showed up mostly on the leftovers, which were found on the less delicious areas, like the head, neck, and feet.
These were not brave hunters taking down some of the fiercest beasts of their era. They were opportunistic scavengers, grabbing second breakfast after an apex predator got full.
The team wanted to determine just how capable these “hobbit” ancestors of ours were, so they examined the thousands of bones from the Liang Bua Cave, looking for evidence of fire; anything that would suggest that maybe they also cooked food. They found none. Well, that’s not entirely true. They did find some burned bones at the site, but they likely belonged to much later occupants, Homo sapiens, who arrived tens of thousands of years after the hobbits had already disappeared.
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