Uncategorized Archaeologists discover 700,000-year-old fossils of ‘hobbit’ ancestors June 12, 2016 J. C. Conway Leave a comment The Daily Buzz Scientists say that fossils found on an Indonesian island in 2014 belong to ancestors of the so-called “hobbits,” our extinct, 3 ½ -foot-tall evolutionary cousins that gained fame more than a decade ago after their remains were found in a cave there. The fossils are about 700,000 years old, extending the hobbit story far backward from the original remains, which date to just 50,000 years ago. Scientists say the six isolated teeth and a jaw fragment come either from hobbits or a related species. The fossils were excavated about 46 miles from the cave where the first hobbit remains were found. The discovery on the island of Flores was described in two papers published Wednesday in the journal Nature. The newfound fossils “strongly suggest” that the hobbits evolved from members of Homo erectus living in Asia, Yousuke Kaifu of Tokyo’s National Museum of Nature and Science told Reuters. Paleontologist Gerrit… View original post 150 more words Advertisements Share this:TwitterFacebookGoogleLike this:Like Loading... Related
