Island of the Little People

Not so very long ago, many strange animals lived on the remote island of Flores in Indonesia. There were rats as big as dogs, dwarf elephants the size of ponies, and giant lizards. Now, scientists tell us that another creature of unusual size once shared the island-a newly discovered species of miniature human being.

Archaeologists, who recently unearthed the skeletal remains of a 30-year-old woman just 40 inches tall, think that the small people had full-size ancestors who reached Flores from Africa more than 800,000 years ago. As the Floresians adapted to conditions on the island-such as the need to survive on less food-they evolved to become tinier and tinier. But despite having brains the size of a chimpanzee's, the Floresians made stone tools, used fire, and may even have developed language.

Stunned scientists believe that Homo floresiensis, as they've dubbed the new species, lived as recently as 13,000 years ago. Modern humans, or Homo m sapiens, were settled in this region of the Pacific by 35,000 years ago. Did the two human species meet? No one knows, but islanders have long told stories of little people who once lived in caves. It's just possible that these folktales have some basis in fact.

Copyright Carus Publishing Company Feb 2005
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