By Jonathan Amos
BBC Science Correspondent
30 March 2016
The diminutive human species nicknamed
"the Hobbit" is older than previously recognised, scientists now say.
The discovery of Homo floresiensis in
2003 caused a sensation because it seemed the creature could have been alive in
the quite recent past.
But a new analysis indicates the little
hominin probably went extinct at least 50,000 years ago - not the 12,000 years ago initially
thought to be the case.
Researchers report their revised assessment in
the journal Nature.
Prof Bert Roberts, from the University of
Wollongong, Australia, says the new dating actually resolves what had always
been a head-scratcher: how it was possible for floresiensis to survive for
30,000 to 40,000 years after modern humans are believed to have passed through Indonesia
"Well, it now seems we weren't
living alongside this little species for very long, if at all. And once again
it smells of modern humans having a role in the downfall of yet another
species," he told BBC News.
"Every time modern humans arrived
somewhere new, it tended to be bad news for the endemic fauna. Things would go
pear-shaped pretty quickly."
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