Here’s to all you “Hobbit” fans out there.

Hobbits, up to this point, have been known only as fictional, tiny humans who inhabited Middle Earth, like sweet Bilbo Baggins. But now, scientists have found a hobbit-like human ancestor. They may not be as adorable as the hobbits you’re familiar with in recent feature films, but they were closely related to Homo erectus.

These hobbits, or halflings, actually existed. Fossilized remains have been found, preserved and studied. They now know that these little people are a relative of Homo erectus. This human ancestor has been named Homo floresiensis. Homo floresiensis was found on the island of Flores in Indonesia. These fossils are 700,000 years old. More recent fossils of Homo floresiensis were dated to 60,000 years old.

These “hobbits” were about 3 feet tall. The scientists studying the fossilized remains theorize that Homo erectus may have been washed out to sea on a tsunami, or in another fashion floated out to Flores Island. Fossils of the larger Homo erectus were also found on the Island.

The scientists are hoping to find Homo erectus fossils 1 million years old or more, so that they can definitively prove their theories. Then they will have a good idea of what the first island inhabitants looked like.

It is theorized that living on an island with limited food, Homo erectus became smaller over time and morphed into the petite Homo floresiensis. In the same area, small elephant remains were also found, lending credence to the theory that both Homo erectus and the elephants evolved over time into a smaller sub-species due to island dwarfism.

It is interesting to note that the height was reduced by two-thirds of that of Homo erectus, and the brain volume also evolved into about half the size of Homo erectus. This is the first time human ancestors have been known to be affected by island dwarfism.

These tiny people, who were about 2.5 to 3 feet tall, made crude stone tools and managed to survive on Flores Island. It is believed they inhabited this island as long ago as 1 million years and attained their small size after 300,000 years of occupation.

Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel is executive director of the Community Hiking Club and president of the Santa Clara River Watershed Conservancy. Contact Dianne through communityhikingclub.org or at zuliebear@aol.com.