Early evolution of small body size in Homo floresiensis

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 6381 - 13
• Main Authors: Kaifu, Yousuke, Kurniawan, Iwan, Mizushima, Soichiro, Sawada, Junmei, Lague, Michael, Setiawan, Ruly, Sutisna, Indra, Wibowo, Unggul P, Suwa, Gen, Kono, Reiko T, Sasaki, Tomohiko, Brumm, Adam, van den Bergh, Gerrit D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 06.08.2024; Nature Publishing Group UK; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: Animals; Biological Evolution; Body Size; Extinct species; Fossils; Hominidae - anatomy & histology; Hominids; Homo floresiensis; Humerus; Humerus - anatomy & histology; Indonesia; Phylogeny; Pleistocene; Teeth; Tooth - anatomy & histology; Indonesia
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50649-7

Recent discoveries of Homo floresiensis and H. luzonensis raise questions regarding how extreme body size reduction occurred in some extinct Homo species in insular environments. Previous investigations at Mata Menge, Flores Island, Indonesia, suggested that the early Middle Pleistocene ancestors of H. floresiensis had even smaller jaws and teeth. Here, we report additional hominin fossils from the same deposits at Mata Menge. An adult humerus is estimated to be 9 - 16% shorter and thinner than the type specimen of H. floresiensis dated to ~60,000 years ago, and is smaller than any other Plio-Pleistocene adult hominin humeri hitherto reported. The newly recovered teeth are both exceptionally small; one of them bears closer morphological similarities to early Javanese H. erectus. The H. floresiensis lineage most likely evolved from early Asian H. erectus and was a long-lasting lineage on Flores with markedly diminutive body size since at least ~700,000 years ago.