ExtinctZoo - Earth Once Had Hobbits & It Absolutely Sucked To Be Them

Episode Date: December 8, 2024

Hobbits have cozy lives right? True, until you put them in the real world and on an island with giant reptiles, then you got yourself some brutally awful experiences.

You said this place was steps from the water. We just haven't found the steps yet. How much did we save? Enough. Enough to get lost. Or you could book a stay with Hilton. Welcome to your ocean front room. Just steps from the water.

The Hilton sale is on now. Book on Hilton.com or the Hilton app and save up to 20% to get the stay you expected. When you want savings, not surprises. It matters where you stay. Hilton, for the stay. No one goes to Hank's for his spreadsheets. They go for a darn good pizza.

Lately, though, the shop's been quiet. So Hank decides to bring back the $1 slice. He asks Copilot in Microsoft Excel to look at his sales and costs. To help him see if he can afford it. Co-pilot shows Hank where the money's going and which little extras make the dollar slice work. Now, Hanks has a line out the door. Hank makes the pizza.

Co-Pilot handles the spreadsheets. Learn more at M365Copilot.com slash work. While we may not like to admit it, height plays a significant role in human culture, with tallness often being viewed as a desirable physical trait. And over the last several hundreds of years, humans in general have been on an increasing height trend, with newborns today expected to be about 5% taller than their ancestors 100 years ago. This trend wasn't always the norm, though, and throughout time, humans have experienced their fair shares of ups and downs in the height department.

A roller coaster that becomes almost surreal-looking when you add in other human species and not just sapiens. Across the board, there has been some who are quite comparable to us in height, as seen in the Homo erectus. Yet for the most part, early humans were shorter than us, with the Habilis, for example, being about 30% smaller. But that's nothing, as around 1 million years ago or so, a group of archaic humans emerged in the eastern hemisphere that made even the Habilis seem like giants, representing the shortest human species. species currently know to science. Homo fluoresciensis, sometimes referred to as the real-life hobbits. Our knowledge on these mysterious people is fairly limited and remarkably recent.

As compared to most human species, though we have known about for over 100 years, the homo fluoresciensis has only appeared on scientists' radar in the last 20, and is in fact one of the only Homo species to be uncovered in the 21st century. The discovery was made when a joint Australian-Indonesian team, set out on the island of Flores looking for evidence of the first human migration of modern humans from Asia to Australia. However, instead of finding evidence for this, they instead came across a remarkably well-preserved skeleton within the Lianbois cave, which was clearly human. They dubbed the specimen LB1 and noted its unusual characteristics, including its blatantly small build, leading to its nickname the Little Lady of Flores.

And soon after this find, more specimens were found in the area, totaling the fifth. individuals. Due to their frame and school, researchers deduced they had not just found a new society of people, but an entirely new species of homo. This naturally generated a bunch of questions, which included both why were they so small, and how did they come to be, as the island that they inhabited is bordered by the Lombach Strait, a deep passage of water that happens to be the deepest in the entire world, implying that the island was isolated even during periods of low sea levels. This meant that the ancestors of Floresciensis had to have reached the island by oceanic dispersal, with the most probable way being rafting.

This subsequently led to two different hypotheses, with the first being that Floresciensis descended from an early migration of primitive Australopithecus or Habilis, with the argument being that their feet was more similar to those seen in Habilis and Australopithecus than other hominens. But conversely, the second hypothesis pushes back on this, and argues that Floresciensis is a descendants of Javanese Homo erectus, as they share similar dentistry in craniums.

Now, such a debate could be cleared up with DNA. However, every extraction thus far has ended in failure, so for now, the mystery remains. What there is no arguing about, though, is the remarkable smallness of these humans. In the beginning, researchers actually thought that the small frame of LB1 was an exception, not the rule, perhaps the result of a physical condition.

But as more specimens were found, it became evident that they were simply Hobbits, or as close to them as you can get. As to date, the tallest known specimen is only a mere 1.09 meters tall or 3 foot 7 inches, while the holotype is even shorter, having stood at around 3 foot 6 inches or 1.06 meters. At this height, Floresciensis would be considered well within the range of dwarfism in modern humans, and was roughly 40% smaller than the average human born in 1996. Additionally, fluoresciensis is even smaller than the shortest groups of modern humans today, a title that is usually given to the Mabanga, Mbuti, Simang, or Andamanese people,

all of whom fall between 1.37 and 1.5 meters, or 4 foot 6 and 4 foot 11 feet on average. And as such, the limited height of homo fluoresciensis quickly led to them being dubbed hobbits, after the fictionalized race popularized by J.R.R. Tolkien. However, what's ironic is that while these real-life humans were actually smaller than the hobbits portrayed in the movies, they were essentially identical

to the average height of hobbits in the books, making the nickname extremely fitting. But it gets even more coincidental, as their feet were also quite hobbit-like, with them having been unusually large and flat when compared to the rest of their bodies. However, where they differed was that opposed to Hobbit toes, which in the movies appear to be thick,

theirs were long, yet very thin. And this, combined with the flatness and largeness of their feet, likely led to them needing to bend their knees more than we do when walking, leading to a high stepping gate and therefore slower walking speed. And interestingly enough, the legs were also more bust than even our own, despite their short size. But this did not help them much in the weight department, as overall they were still quite grass-sile and built.

with an estimated average weight of only 25 kilos or 55 pounds, making them lighter than a border collie and one-fourth the weight of your typical American male. Such a small and light build obviously made paleontologists wonder, why were they so small? And the answer seems to have been tied to Flores itself, which was not the biggest island you could find yourself on, being about roughly half the size of Vancouver Island. This meant that resources were not especially abundant

and thus caused Insular dwarfism, where the absence of sufficient resources led to an evolutionary pressure of decreasing body sizes. And one group of researchers believe that they have actually deduced the exact resource, or lack of, that led to the Floriances dwarfism, iodine. Specifically, they mentioned how some of their odd features are key characteristics seen in congenital iodine deficiency, such as small bodies, reduced brain size, large fauna, relatively thick limbs, double-rooted premolars, and unusual wrists. Although I will say not everyone agrees this take, and some argued that their fossa was not enlarged or different from our own. And besides being much shorter and lighter than modern humans, the fluoresciensis was quite anatomically different as well.

So while from a distance you likely could not notice anything unusual besides their stature, up close there would be no misunderstanding that these were not Homo sapiens. As in addition to their unusual feet and legs, they also had distinctive clavicles and shoulder girdles that were proportionally short, while the humeral head in their elbow joints were twisted at a lesser angle than our own, which paired with a clavicle shape likely led to them being in a permanently shrugging or slightly hunched forward position, that along with their size would have given them a pretty unusual appearance. Furthermore, they differ from us in that they had protruding brow ridges, no prominent chin,

and primitive canines, yet advanced molars. But despite these striking contrasts, there were some similarities between us and them, with one of the most important ones being that the fluoresciensis had brains very similar in shape to our own, with the only markable difference having been the size. And actually, fluorescence individuals had some of the smallest brains of any known human species, with the volume being just 380 centimeters cubed, less than half the size of the erectus's brain, and more than three times smaller than modern human brains.

Yet, because their bodies were so small, the implications of their small brains were not as severe as you may think, as their brain to body mass ratio was still within the range of homorectus. Furthermore, their Broadman Area 10, which is tied to cognition, was about the same size as ours, implying that their brains likely did not affect mental capacity. And sure enough, fluoresciensis remains are associated with complex behaviors, such as the control of fire, butchering of animals, and the manufacturing of stone tools, which actually bore many similarities to the stone tools created by nearby Homo sapien populations.

and their advanced technology proved to be extremely important, as the island of Flores during the Pleistocene was something of a real-life-lost world, being home to giant exotic life, wherein some of the biggest creatures and predators around were animals we typically don't imagine as being nightmarish. But here on Flores, they underwent insular gigantism, resulting in creatures that are usually smaller, becoming absolutely massive. One such animal that experienced this was a stork from hell,

leptoptops, robustus. The genus is actually still around, and are described as very large tropical storks, but the robustus is thankfully long gone, as this bad-tempered stork was way more massive than its living relatives, having stood at 180 centimeters or 5 foot 11 inches, while its wingspan topped 3.65 meters or 12 feet, equal to the wingspan of the largest birds today. While it retained the classic slender body seen in storks, its bones are much heavier and thicker than normally seen, leading paleontal It is to assume that it rarely flew, and probably spent most of its days stocking the land instead, using its height and powerful eyes to pinpoint prey, which seems so typically

consisted of rats and reptiles. But sadly, for our distant cousins, there is a fair chance they were not spared by the storks. Because as juveniles, homo fluoresciensis would have been well within the prey range, being similar in weight to larger rats. And even as adults, it's possible that a large stork could take them out. And remarkably, this stork wasn't the only bird Floresciensis had to watch out for, as it also lived with a large type of vulture, the trigonossips. Like the stork, the genus of vulture is still around, but the species found on floress is not.

For now, that species remains unnamed, and its true size is a mystery, but it's been deduced that at the very least it was larger than homo fluorescences, at least when it came to dimensions. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars. Catch the Jonas Brothers return to the Yamava Theater stage on April 30th, the powerful vocals of Demi Lovato on May 17th, and the signature Southern Country Rock of Eric Church on July 19th. Tickets on sale now at Yamavat Theater.com, only at Yamava Resort and Casino, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You win? Must be 21 to enter.

Ambition comes in all shapes and sizes. At First Citizens Bank, we roll with your goals because we're built for what you're building. Fit for your ambition for Citizens Bank. Now, this may sound worse than a giant stork, but given that its living relatives are predominantly scavengers, it's likely that this vulture was the same. That being said, its closest living relative, the white-headed vulture,

has been observed hunting when the occasion presents itself. sometimes even killing animals up to 10 pounds or 4.5 kilos. So if we assume that the floress vulture was at least double its size, that would again put juvenile and sub-adult Floriances within killing range. No bueno. Although, being hunted was likely not their biggest problem with these birds, but rather competition they caused over prey. And hunted herbivore specimens do in fact show that Floresciens rarely made scavenging cut marks,

suggesting intense and frequent conflicts with other carnivores over Carion. But neither bird was the true obstacle or threat on these islands. With that crown going to an animal very much still around on this island today, Veronis Komodo Ensis, better known as the Komodo Dragon. These large monitor lizards, which are the current biggest lizards on Earth, are endemic to a few Indonesian islands, including Flores, where, like now, terrorized the inhabitants during the Pleistocene. They were without a doubt the largest terrestrial predators around, with known specimens reaching

up to 3 meters or 10 feet, and sometimes weighing up to 90 kilos or 200 pounds. And they aren't just big, as they possess an array of features that make them utterly terrifying, likely a reason why they heavily inspired the movie King Kong. For starters, each Komodo dragon possesses a jaw filled with the xiphodon teeth, which is defined as teeth which are flattened, recurved, and serrated. similar to the dentition scene in many theropod dinosaurs. In other words, very, very sharp. And the Komodo dragon can be very liberal with how viciously they use these teeth,

as lost ones are quickly replaced every 40 days, so don't expect them to go easy on prey. And live observations of their hunting verify a very brutal killing method, as they often dispatch prey by causing catastrophic lacerations and tearing large chunks of flesh off of an animal, with the throat often being a prime target during ambushes. And while they are known to kill prey within seconds, many times the prey is often consumed while alive. So that's all to say that any fluoresciensis caught by this lizard were in for a very terrible time.

And to make matters worse, even if something is attacked and escapes, they're not out of the woods yet, as Komodo dragon's saliva is venomous. For a long time, it was believed that the odd behavior displayed by prey after being bitten was the result of large amounts of bacteria within the mouth causing infection. But now it's understood that the Komodo dragon does indeed have venom, which have been recorded to prevent blood clotting, lower blood pressure, induce hypothermia, and even cause muscle paralysis, leading to shock and loss of consciousness. There is also the problem that despite being solitary in general, Komodo dragons are known to gather around struggling or fallen prey, leading to an animal, often being feasted on by multiple individuals,

and thus making escape that much more impossible. And thanks to their teeth and venom, prey many things, times larger than humans, let alone the Floresciensis, are targeted, such as the water buffalo and stagodons back in the day, with both of them sometimes being over one ton. To make matters worse, based on witness huntings, we also know that remarkably small Komodo dragons, sometimes only being 30 pounds or 13 kilos, can take down prey much larger than Florisianus too, painting a very grim picture for our distant relatives. Additionally, even modern humans, who are larger, more powerful, and technologically advanced,

are known to be attacked from time to time. And over a 30-year-plus period, 24 attacks were reported with a fatality rate of 20%, which, just to put that into perspective, is greater than the lethality of shark attacks. And not that they need it, but Komodos are also protected by rugged skin, which is reinforced by armored scales that contain little bones called osteoderms, which was, which was when numerous and next to each other, create a sword of biological chain mail. So, even with weapons, Floresciensis would have had an extremely hard time dealing with this apex predator. And scientists do think that these real-life dragons dominated the inland parts of Floress,

and were a significant contributor to the mortality for the Floresciensis population, while also making scavenging very difficult, especially when considering the fact that Komodos have amazing tracking capabilities, being able to detect Carion up to 6 miles or 9.5 kilometers away. And they weren't the only reptilian predators to watch out for, as back in those days, Flores was home to a fair amount of saltwater crocodiles as well. Nice. These large beasts tend to stick to coastal environments, including mangrove swamps,

making any ventures there quite questionable, because as you likely know, saltwater crocs are pretty gnarly, being the largest reptiles on Earth at the moment, sometimes exceeding one ton in weight, and possessing one of the strongest bites, period, that clocks in at around 16,400 newtons, you know, just nearly 27 times more powerful than the bite of a wolf. And because of their presence, the Homo fluoresciensis perhaps did not eat as much marine prey as you would expect an island-dwelling human to do. And thanks to their size, this was yet another apex predator, which did not make things easy for them.

Now this being said, because Homo Florescences lived in groups and had a variety of weapons at their disposal, the tyranny of their reptiles may not have been as dominant as expected. And artisan cousins were ultimately still very efficient hunters, likely preying on the smaller inhabitants of Flores, with rats and other rodents in particular, having seemingly been a primary source for calories, as multiple species were widespread across the island and diverse in size. With the two largest having been, the Papagomas and the now extinct, Spileumus. Both of them were giant from a normal rat's point of view, and as adults, they were

likely comparable to the size of a rabbit. In the grand scheme of things, and because in general there weren't many predators in Floress, these rodents were probably found pretty much everywhere at all times. And while these smaller creatures were a huge part of Homo Floresciensis' diet, these hobbits also made good on the saying, it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but rather the size of the fight in the dog. As fossil evidence shows that despite being tiny. They still managed to take down the biggest animal on the island, the Stegodon. This is an extinct genus of Proocidian that is closely related to elephants and superficially looks a lot like them. And on Flores, they're one of the unlucky mammals to experience dwarfism,

and thus leading to the species, Stegadon Florensis. But there were no doubt still big, especially when compared to the other animals on the island, with the largest adults weighing around 1.7 tons and measuring 6.2 feet or 190 centimeters at the shoulders. However, over time they did end up getting smaller and smaller, and by the late Pleistocene, most adults would have been about 570 kilos or 1,260 pounds in weight. It's likely that Homo Floraciences hunted the Stegodon throughout this entire time, though it has been suggested that they only really went after juveniles, using points, perforators, blades, and microblades to kill and butcher these tusks mammals. Meanwhile, adults were likely off the menu for a good chunk of predators.

But when they died, they played a huge role in the ecosystem, providing carry-on for numerous carnivores, and also facilitating intense conflicts between them, making for an interesting spectacle, to say the least. During hunts for Stegodon, or looking for food in general, the homo fluoresciensis would have had to watch out for the island smaller, yet still deadly predators, such as a variety of snakes, which included highly venomous ones, like the Javan Spitting Cobra, who, as its name suggests, can spit venom from a distance.

Other venomous snakes present consist of Russell's viper, the white-lipped pit viper, and if they wanted to take a swim, the blue-lipped sea crate. And to add fuel to the fire, there would have been large non-venomous snakes slithering around as well, since Floris is known to harbor the longest snake in the world. the reticulated python. This is a lesser-known fact about Flores, as pythons are not super common there, but they do indeed exist,

and are known to reach exceptional sizes, with one found in a cave measuring 20 feet or 6.1 meters, which is terrible news. As based on the remains of our cousins, we know that Floresciensis tended to dwell in caves as well. And sadly, the woes did not end here, as in general, Flores has a reputation for having a diverse range of venomous and poisonous creatures beyond just snakes,

such as 19 spiders, a scorpion, and three venomous wasps, one of which, the yellow-legged hornet, is known to kill fully grown humans. And while not 100% confirmed to be venomous, there is another close relative of the Komodo dragon still living on Flores as well, the Asian water monitor, that just so happens to be the second largest living lizard on Earth, with exceptional specimens being similar in length to the longest commodo dragons, while reaching weights of 50 kilos or 110 pounds. Clearly, Floresciensis had some things

stacked against it, and yet it still managed to not just survive, but thrive, having achieved one of the longest temporal ranges of any Homo species, with remains being dated across a 950,000-year period. This long reign can probably be heavily attributed to their culture and skillful manufacturing of tools, which is actually shocked researchers due to its extensiveness, with over 10,000 stone tools coming from a single cave alone. And despite florists having some questionable inhabitants, it did provide some unique benefits that surely helped prolong the existence of homo fluoresciences. One such benefit is that the island is home to a large number of pretty sizable caves that made for ample residences and provided a degree of defense

against most kinds of predators, making them kind of like Hobbit burrows. Then there is the additional fact that florist for most of the year retains a tropical climate with ample amounts of rainfall, helping negate the consequences of the island having no major rivers or lakes. Finally, there is the double-edged sword of isolation, because while it did lead to dwarfism and gigantism, it ultimately made it harder for new animals, and therefore competition, to a ride to the island, and thus leading to a comparatively low amount of predators. However, once in a blue moon, a new face would show up, and unfortunately for the homo fluoresciensis, a familiar yet most likely unwelcome face popped up 50,000 years ago, modern humans.

We don't know for sure what went down between the two Homo species, but a leading idea is that Homo sapiens may have engaged in violent conflict with the Floresciens, who because of their size were no match for the larger and smarter new arrivals. In addition to direct warfare, modern humans may have negatively impacted them as well by altering the ecosystem of Flores, creating a strain for all the different inhabitants. Whatever the case is, though, it seems that the arrival of modern man ended with the demise of the Floresciensis, who had called this island home for hundreds of thousands of years, and signifying the extinction of the third youngest Homo species after the Neanderthals.

Thanks for watching, and until next time, on Extincts Zoo. Enjoy more ways to save at Ralph's, like low prices in every aisle. And when you download the Ralph's app, you can clip and save more with digital coupons every week. Plus, you can earn fuel points to save up to $1 per gallon at the pump. At Ralph's, you can enjoy more ways to save and more rewards every time you shop. So it's always easy to save big every day with savings and rewards. Ralph's SoCal for over 150 years. Savings may vary by state.

Fuel restrictions apply. Seasite for details.