Who were the hobbits?

Most know hobbits as the fictional dwarf-like creatures from J R R Tolkein’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. But scientists discovered the fossilized remains of hobbitlike creatures in Indonesia. They believed them to be a separate species and called them Homo florsiensis or Man of Flores. But some anthropologists refuted that they were a separate species and said the diminutive size of the cave dwellers was probably due to an iodine deficiency during pregnancy.