The Hobbits are Real

In 2004 archeologists stumbled upon some interesting human remains on a small island in Indonesia named Flores. They found 1 nearly complete skeleton and 8 more partials. What was so exciting about these? They appeared to be a brand new human species! These humanoids, named Hobbits, stood 3 feet tall and would have weighed around 65 pounds. But the fascinating part was that their brains seemed to be perfectly normal, even fairly evolved, except they were very tiny. Evidence of tools and a camp fire were found with the Hobbits.

Debates ran wild as some scientists tried to prove that Hobbits were a new Human species while others tried to prove they were simply diseased modern humans. Now formally named Homo floresiensis, scientists have striking evidence in their favor of being a new species. Not only are their brains well formed and not simply genetically diseased, but their feet also point to being a separate species. They are closer to a chimpanzee foot without the opposable toe, but show all the signs for upright walking.

Here are a couple articles: a summary and some more detail.

The species was wiped out 8,000 years ago when a volcano erupted on the island and decimated much of it's land.

On a related note: It is being debated that Chimpanzees should be reclassified as "homo" as they are more closely related to us then they are to other Great Apes.