Homo Floresiensis or the last stand of Homo Erectus
The genus Homo is estimated to be about 2,000,000 years old. Homo sapiens is a relative newcomer (and includes the side branch of Homo neanderthalis that died out 30,000 years ago) and is thought to have existed for about 160,000 years. In terms of longevity, one of the most successful of the human family tree is Homo erectus. This ancestor walked out of Africa, where he arose about 1.6 million years ago. Homo erectus resembles contemporary humans in size though they had a stouter bone structure. Their braincase (850–1000 cc), is similar to ours, but the cranial bones are more massive than either their predecessor, Homo. habilis or modern humans.
Homo Erectus walked the world but did not conquer it. Their meanderings took them through Europe, into Asia and down the Java archipelago to a little island called Flores. It was there that Homo Erectus fought their last battle for survival and what a fight it was. They tried everything in their small armory of tools and intelligence, but it remained a losing battle. Evolution took a hand, in the way it always does, culling by natural selection. The smaller members of the species found it easier to thrive with their lower demands on their fragile ecology. Homo erectus tried to dodge extinction by becoming smaller and eventually by becoming Homo floresienis.
The original skeleton found in Liang Bua is called, LB1. It shows the extent of the adaptation, a female, she stood at just 1 meter (3.3 feet) tall, weighed about 25 kilograms (55 pounds), and was around 30 years old at the time of her death 18,000 years ago. Homo floreseinsis outlasted LB1 by another 6,000 years before their valiant fight for survival ended. We will have to last many rounds in the brutal ring of evolution before we can boast of such a record.
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