Homo floresiensis: facts about the 'hobbit'

On the left, a small human-looking creature with dark skin, long hair, and a wide nose and mouth. On the right, a skull.

Homo floresiensis, dubbed "the hobbit," was an ancient hominin that lived until at least 17,000 years ago.

Scientists discovered the first H. floresiensis fossil, along with stone tools and animal remains, in 2003 in the Liang Bua (LB) cave on the remote Indonesian island of Flores, according to the 2004 Nature paper describing the extinct human lineage. This first specimen — a 3.5-foot-tall (1 meter), 30-year-old adult female called LB1 — comprised a nearly complete skull and an associated skeleton, which includes several limb bones, hand and foot bones and a partial pelvis, according to the study.