A recently found jawbone, arm bone fragment and teeth collected from an archaeological site in Indonesia revealed a diminutive ancestor of humans dubbed a "hobbit" who lived around 700,000 years ago.
The "hobbit," named after J.R.R. Tolkien’s "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, is believed to be even smaller than a previously discovered human "hobbit" descendant from 60,000 to 100,000 years ago who stood about 3-foot-6.
The new fossils were excavated from a site called Mata Menge on the Indonesian island of Flores, 45 miles from where the original fossils of the larger hobbit were found 20 years ago.
When the arm bone fragment, measuring just 3½ inches, was originally bagged, it was first labeled a possible bone fragment from a crocodile.
The bone represents a human ancestor who likely stood around three inches shorter than its later "hobbit" descendant at around 3-foot-3.
Since Homo floresiensis, the slightly taller "hobbit," was discovered in 2003, scientists have wondered about its origins.
"We did not expect that we would find smaller individuals from such an old site," study co-author Yousuke Kaifu of the University of Tokyo, whose findings were published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, told The Associated Press.
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Evolutionary anthropologist Dean Falk at Florida State University added that the researchers have "convincingly shown that these were very small individuals."
Scientists believe that the hobbit either evolved from the slightly taller Homo erectus or came from a more primitive human species.
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"This question remains unanswered and will continue to be a focus of research for some time to come," anthropologist Matt Tocheri of Canada's Lakehead University told the AP.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
