But in 2004, researchers discovered that a dwarf species of human, dubbed "The Hobbit", was living on the Indonesian island of Flores until 12, 000 years ago - long after modern humans had colonised the region.
This could have sealed the case for the Hobbit as a new species, rather than a modern human pygmy or diseased individual - as some researchers have suggested it is.
Scanning the teeth of A. sediba, and perhaps other enigmatic creatures such as the Indonesian "hobbit", could further resolve their relationship to other members of the human family tree.