Inside remote island where ancient human species could still be alive and roaming

It is believed that a remote Indonesian island was once home to an ancient human species that could still be alive today.

According to anthropologist Professor Gregory Forth, dozens of local people have told him that they have seen a tiny 'ape-man' on the remote island of Flores.

Researchers found the remains of the Homo floresiensis - an ancient species of humans - in a cave in Indonesia in 2003.

Anthropologist Professor Gregory Forth has lifted the lid on Indonesia's 10th largest island (Getty Stock Images)

As reported by the Daily Mail, the species - which were 3ft 7in tall - went extinct 50,000 years ago and could be a relative of Homo erectus, a far more ancient human ancestor.

Forth told the outlet that the local 'Lio' people said they heard stories of the 'ape men' way before the discovery in 2003.

Anyhow, Forth has been listening closely to locals for years and has reached the conclusion that there must be some truth in what they're saying.

Around 30 residents of the 10th largest island in Indonesia have personally told the professor that they've seen at least one of the mammals, which are said to be a lot hairier and ape-like than humans, roaming in the mountains.

The skull in the middle which was found at a cave site belonged to an adult who was barley a metre tall (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

"I first came across talk about things that sounded physically primitive humans when I first began research on Flores 40 years ago in 1984," he said.

"What could explain their conviction? What they describe is uncannily similar to the reconstructions of Homo floresiensis.

"It's a very small bodied, physically primitive member of the homo group."

He noted that the way the locals spoke about the Homo floresiensis species was not as if they were talking about a 'spirit' or a 'belief', rather an actual sighting.

"The descriptions all had a fixed form: it varied, as you would expect from different observers, but at the same time, all the different accounts lent plausibility to this idea there might be some kind of natural species," he continued.

Locals are convinced that they've witnessed the species up close (Getty Stock Images)

"Two young men from the UK, as a matter of fact, had been to Flores, mostly on a snorkeling holiday.

"And they, they climbed a mountain which I'm familiar with, and they claim they saw something that sounded very much like, very much like the ape men."

Forth's book, Between Ape and Human: An Anthropologist on the Trail of a Hidden Hominoid, tries to examine just why the Lio people were convinced that the tiny, ape-like creatures live among us.

But if you think that's crazy, Flores is also home to Komodo dragons and the world's largest rat.

I think we're all less interested in the rat.