New research highlights the devastating impact of severe droughts, driven by climate change, on the fauna and early human inhabitants of Indonesia. The findings suggest that these extreme weather conditions may have contributed to the decline of the island’s pygmy elephants and the unique “hobbit”-like humans who relied on them for survival.
Approximately 50,000 years ago, Homo floresiensis, a small-statured hominin standing at around one meter tall, flourished on Flores Island by hunting and consuming the meat of the island’s dwarf elephants, known as stegodons.
Prior research had indicated the existence of these tiny hominins, whose remains were discovered in the region, but the full extent of their reliance on local wildlife is now being reexamined in light of the current climate crisis.
