A skull found in China could belong to a human lineage more closely related to modern humans than the Neanderthals. This is the result of an international research group led by Xijun Ni and Qiang Ji from Hebei Geo University in Shijiazhuang, China. The scientists describe the fossil in the journal The innovation even as a representative of a new kind of human called “Homo longi” or “Dragon Man”. However, this assessment will cause discussion, predicts Jean-Jacques Hublin from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig.
The skull was found in 1933 while working on a bridge in the northern Chinese city of Harbin, but it was only a few years ago that the descendants of the finder handed it over to the scientists. “The Harbin fossil is one of the most complete human skull fossils in the world,” Ji said in a statement from the journal. The skull has retained many anatomical details that are crucial for understanding the evolution of the genus Homo and the origin of Homo sapiens.
The researchers discovered both archaic and modern features of the skull: the skull volume of 1420 milliliters is similar to that of modern humans, and the short, flat face with small cheekbones is more like Homo sapiens. On the other hand, according to the researchers, the elongated and flat skullcap, the strong bulges above the eyes, the deep eye sockets and the large molars are more reminiscent of older people. “Overall, the Harbin skull gives us more evidence to understand homo-diversity and the evolutionary relationships between these different homo species and populations,” says Ni.
The “dragon men” must have been very adaptable
The scientists examined tiny deposits of earth on the skull as well as the soil at the specified location. Using geochemical studies, they determined an age between 138,000 and 309,000 years for the corresponding layer of earth. A uranium-thorium dating indicated an age of at least 146,000 years. The Harbin man could accordingly have been a contemporary of other archaic people in China today, whose bones are in Xiahe (age: at least 160,000 years), Jinniushan (at least 200,000 years), Dali (240,000 to 327,000 years) and Hualongdong (265,000 to 345,000 years) have been found.
Prehistoric human skulls from China, on the right the find from Harbin.
(Photo: Kai Geng)
From phylogenetic analyzes, Ni, Ji and colleagues deduce that the fossils mentioned belong to a group of people that is somewhat more closely related to Homo sapiens than the Neanderthals. Since China stretches across several climatic zones, these people must have had great adaptability, the researchers write. “Our analyzes also suggest a possible connection between the Harbin skull and the Xiahe mandible, a fossil that is attributed to the Denisova lineage,” said one of three studies on the find. Nevertheless, part of the research group announced that the Harbin skull belonged to a new type of human being, “Homo longi” (“dragon man”), named after the geographical name Long Jiang for the province where it was found.
This classification meets with little understanding from the Leipzig anthropologist Hublin: “This is in contradiction to everything we have learned in anthropology over the past ten years.” Although there is still no access to all of the test results, based on the published studies he assumes that the Harbin people, like many other hominid finds from China, are Denisova people. Remains of Denisova people have been found in the Central Asian Altai Mountains and in Tibet, traces of Denisova genetic material have been found in various peoples in East Asia and Australia. The Denisova man is referred to as a sister group of the Neanderthals, the discoverers did not classify them as a separate human species at the time.
Another prehistoric man found in Israel
In the trade magazine Science Israeli researchers report the discovery of another previously unknown prehistoric man. Tel Aviv University announced that he lived in the Levant until around 130,000 years ago. Remains of the prehistoric man, whom the research team calls Nesher Ramla Homo, were found near Ramla near Tel Aviv.
Nesher Ramla Homo shows similarities with the remains of other prehistoric humans found in Israel and Eurasia who would have lived around 400,000 years ago. “The discovery of a new group of prehistoric humans in this region, which resembles the populations of the Neanderthal ancestors in Europe, shakes the prevailing thesis that the Neanderthals came from Europe,” said the university’s announcement. Rather, it points out “that at least some ancestors of the Neanderthals came from the Levant”. The bone find suggests that two groups of prehistoric humans lived side by side in the Levant for more than 100,000 years. They would have shared knowledge and tool technology. The Nesher Ramla Homo lived in the region 400,000 years ago. Homo sapiens came later, about 200,000 years ago. Later finds indicated that the two groups also mixed up.
The newly discovered prehistoric man combines properties of the Neanderthals, especially on the teeth and jaws, and other members of the homo genus. At the same time, he is clearly different from modern humans – he has a completely different skull structure, no chin, and very large teeth.