Diminutive humans whose remains were found on the remote Indonesian island of Flores in 2003 truly are a new species, and not pygmies whose brains had shriveled with disease, researchers reported Wednesday. Anthropologists have argued, sometimes bitterly, since the discovery of Homo floresiensis — dubbed “the hobbit” due to its size — as to the identity and origins of these distant cave-dwelling cousins.

Some scientists say the creature, dubbed the “hobbit,” represent a new species called Homo floresiensis. If so, it would mean the hobbit species, which dates to about 18,000 years ago, was marooned on the island as humans were spreading around the world. Other scientists, however, dispute the claim of a new species. Instead, they propose theories about island dwarfing or a range of genetic diseases that might explain why the fossils are actually from modern humans even though they look different.

Many scientists have said H. floresiensis were prehistoric humans descended from Homo erectus, stunted by natural selection over millennia through a process called insular dwarfing.

Source