A new branch of the human family tree unknown to science until now. New analysis of a near-perfect fossil skull that was discovered in the 1939s during the construction of a bridge in the city of Harbin, in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province (during the Japanese occupation) , has revealed that it is actually a totally new species. Furthermore, this hominin appears to be one of our closest hominin relatives, even closer than the Neanderthals themselves.
Rewriting the history of human evolution
The extraordinary fossil has been named as a new human species, “dragon man”, by Chinese researchers, although other experts are more cautious with the designation and prefer to call it ‘Homo longi’.
As the skull was found during the Japanese occupation, to prevent it from falling into the hands of the “enemy”, it was wrapped and hidden in an abandoned well, and it resurfaced in 2018 after the man who hid it told his grandson shortly before die.
“The Harbin fossil is one of the most complete human cranial fossils in the world, says Qiang Ji, professor of paleontology at Hebei GEO University.” This fossil preserves many morphological details that are fundamental to understanding the evolution of the genus Homo and the origin of ‘Homo sapiens’. While displaying typical archaic human features, the Harbin skull features a mosaic combination of primitive and derived characters that is distinguishable from all the other previously named Homo species, “Ji clarifies.
The true sister group of Homo sapiens? A lost lineage
Researchers believe that the Harbin skull belonged to a strong and robust male individual who died in his early 50s. It was probably part of a small community that resided in a forested floodplain environment. “Like Homo sapiens, they hunted mammals and birds, gathered fruits and vegetables, and perhaps even fished,” the authors explain.
Geochemical analysis has dated the Harbin skull to about 146,000 years ago, during the Middle Pleistocene , a time of considerable human migrations. Thus, Homo longi and Homo sapiens probably met during this period.
Whatever the exact nature of this relationship, it is clear that “Dragon Man” sheds new light on the mysterious backstory of the genus Homo.
“It is estimated that the Middle Pleistocene age places him as an Asian contemporary of the evolving H. sapiens, H. neanderthalensis and Denisovan lineages. It may even be a representative of the enigmatic Denisovans, but that is something for the next stages of the investigation, “conclude the experts.
The history of human evolution keeps changing.
Referencia: The Innovation, Shao et al.: “Geochemical provenancing and direct dating of the Harbin archaic human cranium” www.cell.com/the-innovation/fu … 2666-6758(21)00056-4 DOI: 10.1016/j.xinn.2021.100131
The Innovation, Ji et al.: “Late Middle Pleistocene Harbin cranium represents a new Homo species” www.cell.com/the-innovation/fu … 2666-6758(21)00057-6 DOI: 10.1016/j.xinn.2021.100132
The Innovation, Ni et al.: “Massive cranium from Harbin in northeastern China establishes a new Middle Pleistocene human lineage” www.cell.com/the-innovation/fu … 2666-6758(21)00055-2 DOI: 10.1016/j.xinn.2021.100130
