![]() ![]() But it seems that wherever the 146,000-year-old fossil falls on the human family tree, it will add to growing evidence that a fascinating and diverse period of evolution was occurring in China from about 100,000 to 500,000 years ago.Īnd because excavations in China haven’t been as extensive as those in places like Africa, experts are only beginning to uncover the evidence. If so, that would make the strange skull a close relative indeed since most humans today still have significant amounts of Neanderthal DNA from repeated interbreeding between our species.Ĭlaims of a new human species are sure to cause skepticism and spark debate. sapiens than the Neanderthals,” says Xijun Ni, a paleoanthropologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Hebei GEO University. “The discovery of the Harbin cranium and our analyses suggest that there is a third lineage of archaic human once lived in Asia, and this lineage has closer relationship with H. The man’s family had been hiding the fossil since it was unearthed at a construction site in Harbin nearly 90 years ago.Īfter geochemical detective work to locate where the fossil was likely found, and painstaking comparison of its distinctive features with those of other early humans, some of the scientists investigating the find believe the cranium from Harbin could represent an entirely new human species- Homo longi or "Dragon Man.” If so, they further suggest it might even be the human lineage most closely related to ourselves. Three years ago, a Chinese farmer made an unusual donation to a university museum-a giant, nearly intact human skull with strange proportions and an unusual backstory. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |