What evidence does Gregory Forth give that small ape men may still live on Flores?

Gregory Forth points to eyewitness reports from the Lio region of eastern Flores, where he recorded about 32 encounters among some 120 to 130 people he interviewed. The descriptions are of small, upright, human-like but monkey-like creatures, mostly seen in high mountain forest far from villages. He argues the match between these accounts and reconstructions of the Homo floresiensis fossils is too close to be easily dismissed, though he does not claim the species survives.

• Forth set aside sightings near the coast as likely monkeys, since that is where people live and the creatures are not expected.
• Flores has no native apes, and its long-tailed macaque was introduced by people a few thousand years ago.
• Firsthand accounts were more naturalistic, while secondhand stories drifted toward the supernatural.

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Joe Rogan Experience (2026-11-05). Read the whole episode summary →

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