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The remains of the tiny hominin Homo floresiensis (nicknamed the ‘hobbit’) still raise supersize questions ten years after the publication in Nature of their discovery in a cave on the remote island of Flores in Indonesia. This collection of reporting, comment and research — new and from Nature’s archives — examines the controversy surrounding the origins and validity of this species, including whether it belongs in our genus, Homo.
The sequencing of ancient DNA is generating dramatic results. The sequence from a bone fragment has revealed the existence of an unknown type of extinct human ancestor that lived in Asia 40,000 years ago.
Fossils of tiny ancient humans, found on the island of Flores, have provoked much debate and speculation. Evidence that they are a real species comes from analyses of the foot and also — more surprisingly — of dwarf hippos.
We are the only living species of the genus Homo. Given the startling results of a cave excavation in Southeast Asia, it seems that we coexisted with another species until much more recently than had been thought.