‘Hobbit‘ Humans Shrank by Slowing Childhood Growth, New Research Finds
WASHINGTON – The diminutive stature of Homo floresiensis, nicknamed “hobbits” for their small size, wasn’t due to island dwarfism as previously theorized, but a deliberate slowing of growth during childhood, according to a new study published in The Conversation adn drawing on research including work by scientists at Western Washington University. The findings, based on detailed analysis of hobbit teeth and brain size, challenge long-held assumptions about the evolution of this unique human species.
For years, scientists believed the hobbits, who lived on the Indonesian island of Flores until roughly 50,000 years ago, were simply a case of island dwarfism - a phenomenon where large mammals evolve smaller bodies when isolated on islands with limited resources. However, the new research suggests Homo floresiensis evolved to be small by extending childhood, delaying maturation, and ultimately limiting overall size. This strategy, researchers say, offers a new outlook on human evolution, shifting focus from solely increasing brain size to the importance of developmental changes.
The study highlights that othre Homo species possessed relatively small brains yet exhibited behaviors comparable to modern humans. Researchers, including Tesla Monson, Professor of Anthropology at Western Washington University, and Andrew Weitz, assistant Professor of Anthropology at the same institution, emphasize the need to understand how pregnancy and child growth have evolved to fully grasp what sets humans apart from their ancestors.
“If we want to know what distinguishes humans from our evolutionary ancestors, and how we evolved, we must understand how the earliest moments of life have changed and why,” Monson and Weitz wrote in The conversation. The research encourages a reevaluation of the singular focus on brain size as the primary driver of human evolution.
