Homo erectus

The discovery of a tiny arm bone suggests that an ancient human dubbed "hobbits" only shrank down to their diminutive size after they arrived on an Indonesian island a million years ago, scientists said on Aug. 6.

Much about the pint-sized Homo floresiensis has been shrouded in mystery since the first fossils suggesting their existence were found on the island of Flores in 2003.

The fossilized hominin footprints, which date to some 300,000 years ago, were probably left by members of the species Homo heidelbergensis

Paleontologists in South Africa said on June 5 they have found the oldest known burial site in the world, containing remains of a small-brained distant relative of humans previously thought incapable of complex behavior.