Hobbit-like Humans May Have Scavenged Komodo Dragons' Leftovers to Survive (cnn.com)
(Sunday July 05, 2026 @04:34AM (EditorDavid)
from the here-be-dragons dept.)
- Reference: 0184303234
- News link: https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/07/04/0756247/hobbit-like-humans-may-have-scavenged-komodo-dragons-leftovers-to-survive
- Source link: https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/03/science/homo-floresiensis-scavenged-food
[1]CNN reports :
> Prehistoric human relatives, nicknamed "hobbits" due to their short stature, may have been scavengers, rather than skilled hunters capable of taking down big game or building cooking fires, according to [2]new research . The study adds to growing evidence that [3]Homo floresiensis , which had a brain only slightly bigger than that of a chimpanzee, wasn't as advanced as scientists previously believed....
>
> The researchers believe that much like how Komodo dragons hunt water buffaloes today, they were using their venomous bite to take down Stegodons — and after the scene was clear, Homo floresiensis swept in to cleave meat from what remained... The new study reinforces a long-held suspicion that Homo floresiensis is not a dwarfed form of Homo erectus but a descendant of a more primitive [4]Homo habilis-like or Australopithecus-like form that arrived on the island more than1 million years ago, said Dr. Chris Stringer, a research leader specializing in human origins and paleoanthropology at London's Natural History Museum.
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/03/science/homo-floresiensis-scavenged-food
[2] http://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aeb7219
[3] https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/02/asia/homo-floresiensis-hobbit-discovery-anniversary-scn
[4] https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/16/science/australopithecus-homo-species-afar-ethiopia
> Prehistoric human relatives, nicknamed "hobbits" due to their short stature, may have been scavengers, rather than skilled hunters capable of taking down big game or building cooking fires, according to [2]new research . The study adds to growing evidence that [3]Homo floresiensis , which had a brain only slightly bigger than that of a chimpanzee, wasn't as advanced as scientists previously believed....
>
> The researchers believe that much like how Komodo dragons hunt water buffaloes today, they were using their venomous bite to take down Stegodons — and after the scene was clear, Homo floresiensis swept in to cleave meat from what remained... The new study reinforces a long-held suspicion that Homo floresiensis is not a dwarfed form of Homo erectus but a descendant of a more primitive [4]Homo habilis-like or Australopithecus-like form that arrived on the island more than1 million years ago, said Dr. Chris Stringer, a research leader specializing in human origins and paleoanthropology at London's Natural History Museum.
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/03/science/homo-floresiensis-scavenged-food
[2] http://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aeb7219
[3] https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/02/asia/homo-floresiensis-hobbit-discovery-anniversary-scn
[4] https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/16/science/australopithecus-homo-species-afar-ethiopia