An article published in the journal “Nature Communications” reports a study on new fossils belonging to the hominins called Homo floresiensis and nicknamed hobbits found at the site of Mata Menge, on the island of Flores. A team of researchers examined these new fossils dated to about 700,000 years ago and concluded that the species Homo floresiensis could descend from Asian Homo erectus.

The discovery of hominins just over a meter tall in a cave at Liang Bua, on the island of Flores, aroused much curiosity and not only among professionals in the field. Nicknamed hobbits because of their small height, they stimulated discussions since the beginning about their origin and relationships with other hominins, especially with Homo sapiens.

An article published in the journal “Nature” reports the results of a study of over 2,500 fossils found in the Baishiya Karst Cave, in the Chinese region of Xiahe, on the Tibetan plateau, among which a partial rib attributed to a Denisovan. A team of researchers used an analysis technique called Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) to attribute isolated and often fragmented bones to the right species through collagen characteristics. According to the researchers, the Denisovans may have lived in that cave between 200,000 and 40,000 years ago.