First look at BBC's ancient 'Hobbit' humans who lived on island with giant rats

As paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi reveals the incredible story of human evolution across 300,000 years on BBC1, viewers may come away feeling that Lord of the Rings was actually inspired by reality.

The five-part series examines how we, as Homo sapiens, went from being just one of many types of human to becoming the dominant form of life on the planet. And she finds a tiny species, nicknamed “the Hobbits”, were only three feet tall but lived on an island packed with giant rats, storks and lizards, plus pint-sized elephants.

On the Hobbit-like humans, who lived on an “absolutely incredible” island in Indonesia, Ella said: “We really wanted to portray the idea of this fantastical Lord of the Rings-like world, except it was real. So most of us have heard of the Neanderthals, but a lot of people won't be familiar with the species that we visit in episode two, which we colloquially call the Hobbit. It literally came up to my hip and lived on an island with giant extinct marabou storks. I want the audience to be so amazed by them that they think, ‘Gosh, what a shame that they're not with us anymore.’

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“They lived on this one island called Flores in Indonesia, and we've got no evidence for them anywhere else. There's this theory called island dwarfism, and that means that large species on an island get small and small species on an island get large. So it just happened that these miniature humans were also on this island with giant rats, Komodo dragons - which we already know are giant - and the marabou storks I was talking about, which were taller than me. And also these miniature elephant-like mammals as well.”

She said that many experts feel that the six human species we know about, originating from 300,000 years ago, is just “the tip of the iceberg”.

Human, which starts later this month, features four accurate 3D models which show some of the different species which co-existed. These include the small-sized Homo floresiensi s – known as ‘hobbits’ after the diminutive characters in J.R.R. Tolkien’s famous novel set in Middle-earth - Homo neanderthalensis or Neanderthals, Homo erectus - the first species of human to walk upright - and the earliest known Homo sapiens.

Ella said the 3D models were “the most scientifically accurate” collection of human species ever shown on television. "They haven’t been seen in the flesh for hundreds of thousands of years and no TV show has ever brought this many human species to life quite like this.”

The series will shows that when Homo sapiens first emerged in Africa we were not alone: there were at least six other human species in the world at the time. Ella investigates why we are the only ones who survived - and what role we played in the demise of the others. “We had a hell of a lot of competition, and yet somehow we are the only ones left - how did we do that? Because it wasn't that we were destined for greatness from the beginning. How did we achieve that? Because we were the underdog. I think just in terms of storytelling, that's incredible.”

Viewers will follow their ancestors as humans first left Africa and ventured into the wider world to interbreed with other human species. One small group, 60,000 years ago, migrated into the Middle East and recent DNA discoveries have found that, with the exception of those with African origins, every human alive today is a descendant of this group.

Ella, a Neanderthal specialist, says we all have around 2% Neanderthal DNA inside us. “Every single person will have an ancestor, at least one, who is half-Neanderthal, half-Homo sapien, and knowing what we know about humans, do you think that would've been easy or hard?” she said. “I just think as somebody of mixed heritage, I'm English and I'm Arab, it would be wild for me to just brush over that scene. I feel like I have to say, ‘No. How would that individual had felt?’”

Exploring what wiped out the Neanderthals, who had lived in Europe for 400,000 years, Ella visits a cave in Spain where archaeologists have discovered the remains of thirteen Neanderthal family members - who have been murdered and cannibalised.

In contrast to this brutal behaviour, Homo erectus is believed to have become extinct because of climate change after around 2million years on the planet, when humidity turned their woodland habitat into inhospitable rainforest.

Travelling to different dig sites around the globe to find out more about recent discoveries, Ella will present “mind-boggling” evidence which shows Homo sapiens have been around for 100,000 years longer than previously thought.

The audience will discover how our ancestors first left Africa and ventured into the wider world to interbreed with other human species. One small group, 60,000 years ago, migrated into the Middle East and recent DNA discoveries have found that, with the exception of those with African origins, every human alive today is a descendant of this group.

Ella says she finds the Dawn of Man theory - which is how we went from being monkeys into humans - unconvincing. “I personally have two problems with this image,” she explained. “One is where are the women? I love men, I really do, but that's the one thing I'm pretty sure they weren't doing on their own. The second problem I have with this image is it gives the impression that evolution is somehow linear, that one species leads to another species - and that's just not the case.”

She says that many new discoveries have been made since the last major series about our species aired in 2009. “Lots of ancient DNA has come out that has told us things like we interbred with the Neanderthals and also so many new species of human have been discovered since then. So actually our family tree got a lot bigger - and it's the family tree of everybody who's ever lived.”

- Human, BBC2, July 14 with all episodes available on iPlayer

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