Homo sapiens skull (left) next to Homo floresiensis skull (right). Did our species kill off the Hobbits? Or did we interbreed and incorporate Hobbit human DNA in their genes? Scientists are still looking for the answers. 
 
 Earlier confusion about when the Hobbits and associated animals died out at Flores had to do with the depth and complexity of the cave site's geological layers. Archaeological excavations at Liang Bua can reach depths of more than 8 meters (26 feet), as shown in this photo. 
 
 Big climate shifts and volcano eruptions could have also doomed the hobbits. Here is a view of Liang Bua cave, as seen from the road out front. 'Hobbit Humans' Actually Might Not Have Been Human 
 
 While our species is suspect, there are other possible explanations for the demise of Hobbit humans. One is the tiny elephant relative, pygmy Stegodon , might have been hunted to death, leading to a devastating chain reaction. Hobbit Human Teeth Reveal Surprising History 
 
 The latest excavations at Liang Bua limestone cave on the Indonesian island of Flores show that the Hobbits, as well as many other animals, disappeared 38,000 years earlier than thought. Their disappearance coincides with the time that our species first arrived in the region. Photos: Faces of Our Ancestors 
 
 Adult so-called Hobbits (Homo floresiensis) only stood about 3.5 feet tall. New research determined that these diminutive humans vanished from a cave on the island of Flores, Indonesia, around 50,000 years ago. What (or who) killed them off? Suspicious: Hobbits Vanish When Modern Humans Appear 
 
 In this depiction, so-called hobbit humans inhabit the lush world of the Indonesian island of Flores. 
 
 Hobbit humans, giant storks, pygmy elephants and Komodo dragons all suddenly disappeared from a cave on the island of Flores, Indonesia, around 50,000 years ago, new research finds. 
 
 Did our species do them in? 
 
 The new analysis dramatically pushes back the time of disappearance of the Hobbits and associated unique animals from the site. 
 
 Photos: Excavation of a Hobbit Cave 
 
 Play Video What Did Ancient Humans Really Eat? Recent dietary fads, such as going paleo, suggest we should get back to eating the way we did before agriculture came along. But, as in much else in life, there are no easy or perfect answers when it comes to the foods we choose. 
 
 Before now, it was thought that these little archaic humans (Homo floresiensis) died out around 12,000 years ago, but new excavations at Liang Bua cave show that the Hobbits, as well as many other animals, disappeared 38,000 years earlier -- at about the exact same time our species first arrived in the wider region. 
 
 The timing, say scientists, is suspicious. 
 
 Bert Roberts of the University of Wollongong and co-author of the study, which appeared in Nature, told Discovery News: "The earliest known evidence of modern humans on Flores is from about 11,000 years ago and after, but we do know that modern humans were on other islands in the region around this time and had reached Australia by 50,000 years ago. So it is certainly a possibility to be considered, but solid evidence is needed in order to demonstrate it." 
 
 Climate shifts and volcanoes might have also led to the sudden demise of species in and around Liang Bua, co-lead author Matt Tocheri of Lakehead University and the Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program added. 
 
 Photos: Faces of Our Ancestors 
 
 Another possibility is that the tiny elephant relative, pygmy Stegodon, might have been hunted to death, leading to a devastating chain reaction. 
 
 "Pygmy Stegodon is the only large-bodied herbivore known on Flores during the Late Pleistocene, and it was clearly a primary food source for these other species," Tocheri explained. "If something happened to cause the pygmy Stegodon to crash, then it more than likely would have had an adverse effect on these other species." 
 
 The confusion about when the Hobbits and associated animals died out at Flores had to do with the depth and complexity of the cave site's geological layers. 
 
 The scientists discovered that an eroded surface sloped steeply toward the cave entrance. Much younger sediments covered it during the past 20,000 years. These newer sediments were at first attributed to the Hobbit remains, but the recent and more extensive analysis disproved that idea. 
 
 Hobbit Human Teeth Reveal Surprising History 
 
 The latest excavation, instead, found that the Hobbits' skeletal remains date from 100,000 to 60,000 years ago, but stone tools consisting of hammered flakes and cores that were made by the Hobbits continue until about 50,000 years ago. 
 
 The earliest evidence of humans on Flores comes from an area called the Soa Basin, lead author Thomas Sutikna of the University of Wollongong and the National Research Center for Archaeology said. One million-year-old stone tools were found at Soa Basin and could have been made by the Hobbits or their ancestors. 
 
 The Hobbit's origins are murky, but it is suspected that they either evolved from Homo erectus, or descended from another, unknown, species of human that might have left Africa 1 to 2 million years ago. 
 
 Their skeletons, first reported in 2004, reveal that they had extremely small, chimpanzee-sized brains and that adults only stood about 3.5 feet tall. They resembled fossil human species that lived in Africa and Asia 1 to 3 million years ago. ||||| Bones and teeth belonging to the ancestors of the short-statured human lineage known as “the Hobbits” have been discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores. The fossils, which date back 700,000 years, are offering fresh insights into the origin of this mysterious species. 
 
 In two new papers in Nature, researchers from Australia’s University of Wollongong describe the fossilized remains of three small-bodied hominins thought to be the distant ancestors of Homo floresiensis, an extinct species of ancient human popularly known as the “Hobbits.” The fossils, which include an adult mandible and several teeth, are the first skeletal remains to be discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores outside of Liang Bua—the cave in which paleoanthropologists discovered the original Hobbit remains. 
 
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 These ancient humans were brought to the world’s attention when the remains of a single adult individual—who would have stood a mere 3½ feet tall—were discovered on Flores in 2003. Since then, another nine specimens have been recovered, including one complete skull. These remains date back to between 95,000 and 50,000 years ago and belong to an entirely new species of nascent humans, one dubbed Homo floresiensis. 
 
 Scientists have speculated that their miniaturized characteristics were the result of insular dwarfism, which happens to animals that have become isolated on small islands with limited access to food. This evolutionary process caused the bodies and brains of these early humans to shrink down in size, but they retained their ability to stand upright and use basic stone tools. 
 
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 “Human diversity was far greater than we ever realized.” 
 
 The precise origin of these Hobbit-like humans remains a mystery. One theory is that these individuals evolved from an isolated population of large-bodied Homo erectus, and then dwarfed over time. The second theory is that these early humans were descended from another member of our genus, such as Homo habilis. Complicating matters further is the suggestion that they’re not a distinct species at all, and that these individuals were suffering from some sort of congenital disease that caused their short stature. 
 
 Based on a morphological analysis of the new fossils, it now appears that these so-called Hobbits were in fact descended from H. erectus. About a million years ago, a band of these early humans got stuck on the island of Flores. Then, over the next 300,000 years, they gradually dwarfed in size, living on the island’s savannah-like grasslands alongside elephants, rats, and Komodo dragons until their mysterious disappearance some 50,000 years ago. 
 
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 The new fossils were uncovered by Gerrit van den Bergh and his colleagues in 2014, after the researchers performed a series of test excavations to identify which stratigraphic layer was most likely to yield the remains. 
 
 “This find...quashes once and for all any doubters that believe Homo floresiensis was merely a sick modern human.” 
 
 The fossils, which include an adult lower right jaw fragment and several teeth, were found in layers of sedimentary rock at a site called Mata Menge. These finds pre-date the bones discovered at Liang Bua by more than half a million years, dramatically extending the timeline of the Hobbits on Flores. Using several dating techniques, the researchers say the fossils are about 700,000 years old. The recent discovery of one million-year-old stone tools pushes back their time on the island even further (unless, of course, these tools were made by some other group of humans). 
 
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 “This find has important implications for our understanding of early human dispersal and evolution in the region and quashes once and for all any doubters that believe Homo floresiensis was merely a sick modern human,” said van den Bergh. “Human diversity was far greater than we ever realized.” 
 
 Interestingly, the adult individual was about two-thirds the size of later Hobbits, which means these ancestors were either equal to or smaller than their descendents. That means these insular humans obtained their small stature in just 300,000 years. That may sound like a long time, but it’s not much in evolutionary terms. The process of insular dwarfism, it would appear, works quickly. 
 
 
 
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 How a group of full-bodied H. erectus made their way to the remote island of Flores remains a matter of speculation. These early humans, who could just barely forge stone tools by smashing them together, couldn’t possibly have had the technological capacity to make boats. Speaking at a press conference yesterday, van den Bergh said they might have been swept to the island by a tsunami, where they remained marooned and isolated. This region is known for volcanic and tectonic activity. What’s more, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami swept individuals out into the sea as far as 38 miles—including a woman who was seven weeks pregnant, and later rescued. 
 
 Another possibility is that this newly found lineage pre-dates the first hominin arrival on Flores, and that it wasn’t H. erectus that got stranded on the island. This would mean that some immediate group of hominin ancestors came through the north from Asia, possibly via Sulawesi. 
 
 “That’s another hypothesis that we have to keep in mind,” said van den Bergh. 
 
 [Nature 1, 2]
– New research suggests it's possible ancient humans are responsible for killing off Indonesia's hobbits (an urge no doubt felt by modern humans who sat through the extended edition of The Hobbit). Starting in 2003 when their remains were first discovered on the island of Flores, scientists believed Homo floresiensis—who averaged 3.5 feet tall and 75 pounds—lived until as recently as 12,000 years ago, National Geographic reports. But a new study published this week in Nature found they actually died off sometime between 60,000 and 50,000 years ago—right around the time humans showed up in the area. "The exact cause of the demise of the hominids … is not yet understood, but in my view, may be related to the appearance in the area of the most aggressive of all hominin species, Homo sapiens, modern humans," one expert tells Discovery. Discovery calls the timing of the hobbits' disappearance "suspicious," but the study found no proof they were wiped out by humans, and further excavations on Flores are needed. Other possible causes for the extinction of Homo floresiensis include volcanoes, overhunting of pygmy elephants, and climate change. But it's not just their death that is mysterious. Scientists still don't know why these real-life hobbits were so small, how they got to Flores, or if they're even a different species. Some experts have posited they are actually humans suffering from dwarfism or Down syndrome. (Meanwhile, ancient humans having sex with Neanderthals may be why we have allergies.)