After a three year long debate, it appears that those scientists claiming that "hobbit" humans that lived on the Indonesian island of Flores some 18,000 years ago were another species and not genetically diseased humans.

The initial find dates back in October 2004, when scientists have found skeletons of a hobbit-like species of human that grew no larger than a three-year-old modern child. Their skulls were roughly the size of grapefruits. Flores is an island east of Bali and midway between Asia and Australia, and scientists suggested the newly discovered species be named Homo floresiensis, after the island on which it was found. The tiny people lived on Flores from about 95,000 years ago until at least 13,000 years ago and used a wide array of tools such as blades, perforators, points, and other cutting and chopping utensils which were apparently used to hunt big game.

The theory that the hobbit remains were a newly discovered species was attacked by several studies which tried to prove that the brain case is that of a modern human with a genetic disease that causes small brains. This thesis was supported, among others, by Robert Martin, provost of the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, and lead author of a highly publicized 2006 study. He basically alleged their brain size was too small to fit any argument yet made in the scientific literature that H. floresiensis is a separate species.

However, the debate seems almost at an end after Matthew Tocheri, a paleoanthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., has studied closely the skeleton and found a remarkable key to solving this mystery. "Their wrist bones don't look anything like wrist bones that modern humans and Neanderthals have," he said. The wrist bones are less evolved than those of gorillas, chimpanzees, and other early human ancestors and might be similar to those of Homo erectus and the more primitive australopithecines. However, one must wait until more fossils are found which can give a clearer picture of how their wrist bones were shaped.

Despite their odd size, scientists agreed from the start that they definitely belong within the Homo genus (which also includes modern humans, Homo erectus, Homo habilis, and Neandertals —- all of which have relatively large braincases, erect posture, opposable thumbs, and the ability to make tools). The Homo floresiensis had slightly longer arms than us; hard, thicker eyebrow ridges; a sharply sloping forehead; and no chin. The Flores humans' diets included the smallest stegodons, fish, frogs, snakes, tortoises, birds, and rodents.

They could have evolved from a normal-size Homo erectus population that reached Flores around 840,000 years ago, due to unclear environmental conditions which favored smaller body size. However, that's not a very sound theory yet because no large-bodied ancestors have ever been found on Flores. They could have been already tiny when they reached the island.