Observatoire des droits humains (anglais seulement)

The ‘hobbits’ mysteriously disappeared 50,000 years ago. Our new study reveals what happened to their home

(Version anglaise seulement)

par Nick Scroxton, Research Fellow, Palaeoclimate, National University of Ireland Maynooth
Gerrit (Gert) van den Bergh, Researcher in Palaeontology, University of Wollongong
Michael Gagan, Honorary Professor, Palaeoclimate, University of Wollongong; The University of Queensland
Mika Rizki Puspaningrum, Researcher in Palaeontology, Bandung Institute of Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung

About 50,000 years ago, humanity lost one of its last surviving hominin cousins, Homo floresiensis (also known as “the hobbit” thanks to its small stature). The cause of its disappearance, after more than a million years living on the isolated volcanic island of Flores, Indonesia, has been a longstanding mystery.

Now, new evidence suggests a period of extreme drought starting about 61,000 years ago may have contributed to the hobbits’ disappearance.

Our new study, published today in Communications…

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