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otherkinnewsTrigger warnings: carnivorous animals; not graphic.
In 2004, archaeologists discovered fossil remains of a one meter tall homid species on the island of Flores. Although now extinct, Homo floresiensis had co-existed with Homo sapiens, and for this reason oral literature survives among the indigenous people of the island, describing Homo floresiensis as a little people who are hairy, uncommunicative, and cave-dwelling. Anthropologists had previously misinterpreted these as folktales about imaginary creatures. Aptly enough, the archaeologists came to nickname Homo floresiensis the “hobbits,” after an uncannily similar humanoid species invented in J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy novels. Tolkien’s hobbits are a hairy, meter-tall people who live in underground houses, negotiate with giant eagles, and trick a fearsome dragon.
According to the Scientific American, latest discovery related to the hobbits regards the fossils of birds from the same cave as the hobbits themselves. This includes a carnivorous stork twice the height of a hobbit, increasing our picture of the contemporary ecology of Flores, which also included Komodo dragons (large carnivorous monitor lizards) and stegodonts (small elephants). The Scientific American article describes the relationship of these creatures in the ecology:
For those of us who always longed to move into Tolkien’s novels and never come back, please take note that this is what science about the real world sounds like. Isn’t it wonderful?
Source
Kate Wong, “Ancient bird remains illuminate lost world of Indonesia’s ‘Hobbits.’” November 6, 2011. Scientific American. http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2011/11/06/ancient-bird-remains-illuminate-lost-world-of-indonesias-hobbits
In 2004, archaeologists discovered fossil remains of a one meter tall homid species on the island of Flores. Although now extinct, Homo floresiensis had co-existed with Homo sapiens, and for this reason oral literature survives among the indigenous people of the island, describing Homo floresiensis as a little people who are hairy, uncommunicative, and cave-dwelling. Anthropologists had previously misinterpreted these as folktales about imaginary creatures. Aptly enough, the archaeologists came to nickname Homo floresiensis the “hobbits,” after an uncannily similar humanoid species invented in J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy novels. Tolkien’s hobbits are a hairy, meter-tall people who live in underground houses, negotiate with giant eagles, and trick a fearsome dragon.
According to the Scientific American, latest discovery related to the hobbits regards the fossils of birds from the same cave as the hobbits themselves. This includes a carnivorous stork twice the height of a hobbit, increasing our picture of the contemporary ecology of Flores, which also included Komodo dragons (large carnivorous monitor lizards) and stegodonts (small elephants). The Scientific American article describes the relationship of these creatures in the ecology:
“It’s entirely possible, Meijer says, that dragons, hobbits, storks and vultures were competing for Stegodon parts, although this remains a speculative scenario. (Likewise it is theoretically possible that the giant stork fed on hobbits, but evidence of such an encounter has yet to surface.)”
For those of us who always longed to move into Tolkien’s novels and never come back, please take note that this is what science about the real world sounds like. Isn’t it wonderful?
Kate Wong, “Ancient bird remains illuminate lost world of Indonesia’s ‘Hobbits.’” November 6, 2011. Scientific American. http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2011/11/06/ancient-bird-remains-illuminate-lost-world-of-indonesias-hobbits
