The most complete Homo floresiensis fossil skeleton belongs to an adult female of about 1 m in height with a cranial capacity of just 417 cc. Other fossil remains show that these were typical sizes for the species, which is why it is nicknamed the “Hobbit”. H. floresiensis, discovered in 2003 on the Indonesian island of Flores where it lived between 190,000 and 50,000 years ago, is believed to be a dwarf form of H. erectus. Indeed, the evolution of smaller versions of large mammals on islands is not uncommon. H. floresiensis was a fully biped species that produced stone instruments, used fire and hunted dwarf elephants on the island.
