Scientists have come up with information related to a rare human fossil discovered 10 years ago in Indonesia. The species named as Homo floresiensis was also nicknamed as ‘Hobbits’ due to their short height. The Homo floresiensis stood at 106 cm or three and a half foot high.

Earlier, the fossils were believed to be 18,000 years old but according to new research, the fossils are said to be between 60,000 and 100,000 years old. Previously, the species was believed to live till 12,000 ago but the new evidence suggests the number to be 50,000 years old.  The error in calculation of the age might have happened due to the erosion of the fossil.

“Fossil people are very reluctant to destroy a brand-new skeleton to get a date out of it when you think you’ve already got it pretty well nailed.” Richard Roberts, the study’s lead author explains.

Although the new discovery doesn’t matter much in terms of scientific significance, but it raises some speculations about the species’ interaction with Homo sapiens. Further research will be done to find out that if Homo sapiens had any role in the exinction of the species.

“To me, the question is, ‘Would the Hobbits have become extinct if humans had never made landfall on Flores?’ And the answer is ‘no.’ We were likely the decisive factor in their demise, but we still need to find hard evidence to back up this hunch,” Roberts said.

According to research data, “Homo sapiens first appeared in Africa about 200,000 years ago and later trekked to other parts of the world, encountering other human species like Neanderthals. Soon after having contact with Homo sapiens, Neanderthals went extinct.”

The research paper was published in the journal Nature.