The diet of the Flores Hobbits provides insight into their evolution

Until about 60,000 years ago, a few hominin cousins, Homo floresiensis (called Hobbits for obvious reasons), shared the island of Flores with Komodo dragons, pygmy elephants, and giant rats.

Based on the presence of hominin and pygmy elephant bones in the same layers of cave mud, it was originally thought that the Hobbits hunted and killed small elephants – an impressive feat for such a small hominin. But according to sociologist Elizabeth Veatch of the University of Tübingen and her colleagues, it was the Komodo dragons who were the hunters, while the Hobbits only showed up to destroy what was left.

If Veatch and his colleagues are correct, their findings may challenge our assumptions. Homo floresiensis-and which hominin species were the first to colonize Africa.

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