"We did not expect to find smaller individuals at such an ancient site," said study co-author Yousuke Kaifu of the University of Tokyo.

The original Hobbit fossils date back to between 60,000 and 100,000 years ago. The new fossils were unearthed at a site called Mata Menge, about 45 miles (72.5 kilometers) from the cave where the original fossils were discovered.

In 2016, after studying jawbones and teeth recovered from the new site, researchers suspected that earlier relatives of the Hobbit may have been even shorter. Further analysis of a small arm bone fragment and teeth revealed that the Hobbit's ancestors were about 6 centimeters shorter than this species and lived 700,000 years ago.

"They've shown conclusively that these were very small individuals," said evolutionary anthropologist Dean Falk at Florida State University, who was not involved in the study.

The findings were published August 6 in the journal Nature Communications.

Researchers have debated how the Hobbits, named Homo floresiensis after the remote Indonesian island of Flores, evolved to be so small and where they fit into the story of human evolution. They are thought to have been one of the last human species to become extinct.

Scientists still don't know whether the Hobbits descended from an earlier, taller species of human called Homo erectus that lived in the area, or from an even more primitive species.

More research and fossils are needed to determine the hobbit's place in human evolution, said anthropologist Matt Tocheri at Canada's Lakehead University.

“This question remains unanswered and will continue to be a focus of ongoing research,” said Tocheri, who was not involved in the study.

Hoai Phuong (according to AP)