Study Finds Homo floresiensis Scavenged 54 Stegodon Cuts, Not Hunted, as Komodo Dragons Took Meaty Parts
Updated
Updated · Livescience.com · Jul 3
Study Finds Homo floresiensis Scavenged 54 Stegodon Cuts, Not Hunted, as Komodo Dragons Took Meaty Parts
3 articles · Updated · Livescience.com · Jul 3
Summary
Fifty-four cut marks on dwarf elephant bones at Flores' Liang Bua cave point to Homo floresiensis butchering carcasses after Komodo dragons, not killing the animals themselves, according to a Science Advances study.
Nearly twice as many dragon tooth marks appeared on the same Stegodon bones, clustered on flesh-rich areas, while the hobbits' tool marks were concentrated on less meaty parts—matching secondary scavenging rather than primary hunting.
A Zoo Atlanta experiment, in which researchers documented bone damage after a captive Komodo dragon fed on a goat carcass, provided the comparison used to separate dragon tooth marks from stone-tool cuts.
More than 4,000 mouse bones showed no burning, and Stegodon bones lacked cooking traces, undermining earlier claims that H. floresiensis used fire and suggesting they ate raw meat.
The findings recast the Flores hominins as less behaviorally sophisticated than previously thought and could reshape debates over whether their lineage split from an earlier Homo population before hunting and fire control emerged.