- Pallab Ghosh
- BBC Science Correspondent
Image source,Kai Geng
The dragon’s skull is very large, but the size of the brain is about the same as the average size of our human brain.
Chinese researchers have revealed an ancient human skull to the public, which may belong to a completely new human population.
The research team claimed that among the known ancient human populations such as Neanderthals and Homo erectus, this is the closest relative in evolutionary history.
This specimen, nicknamed “Dragon Man,” represents the human population that lived in East Asia at least 146,000 years ago.
Someone discovered this specimen in Harbin in northeastern China in 1933, but it has only recently attracted the attention of scientists.
The analysis of the skull was published in the journal “The Innovation”.
Professor Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London is one of the leading experts in the field of human evolution in the UK and a member of the research team.
“In terms of fossils over the past million years, this is one of the most important discoveries to date,” he told the BBC.
“What you see now is an independent branch of mankind, not toward Homo erectus (human population), but represents a long-term independent lineage that has evolved in this area for hundreds of thousands of years and eventually became extinct.
Image source,Kai Geng
Artistic representation of the appearance of the dragon man The skull shows that he is strong and strong.
The researchers said that this discovery may rewrite the history of human evolution. Their analysis shows that the newly discovered race is more closely related to Homo erectus than Neanderthals.
They put this specimen into a new category: Homo longi (Homo longi), the English word comes from the Chinese “龙” pronunciation.
“We found a long-lost sister population,” said Ni Xijun, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Hebei University of Geosciences.
He told the BBC: “I yelled’Oh my God!’ I couldn’t believe it was so well preserved and you can see all the details. What an amazing discovery!”
Compared with the skulls of other human populations (including us), this skull is much larger. But its brain is about the same size as a human.
Longren’s eye sockets are large, almost square, with thick brow ridges, wide mouths, and large teeth. Professor Ji Qiang of Hebei University of Geosciences said that this is one of the most complete early human skull fossils discovered so far.
The researchers explained: “It has the characteristics of primitive humans and some more modern populations, which is different from other human populations that have been discovered.”
Scientists believe that the dragon man is strong and strong. But little is known about his way of life, because his skull has been moved from the spot where it was found.
This means that there is no archaeological background, such as stone tools or other cultural elements.
According to reports, the skull was discovered by a construction worker who built a bridge on the Songhua River in 1933. The city of Harbin, through which the Songhua River flows, is located in Heilongjiang Province-literally the Black Dragon River, named after this newly discovered human population.
The city was under Japanese occupation at that time. Chinese workers who had doubts about the cultural value of the skull smuggled it home to prevent it from falling into the hands of the occupiers. He hid the skull at the bottom of the well in his home, where he kept it for about 80 years. The man told his family about the skull before he died, so he finally reached the hands of the scientist.
Image source,KAI Geng
Researchers say that the ancient humans on the far left may have evolved over millions of years to form the relatively modern dragons on the far right.
China has found many early human remains that are difficult to classify, and the dragon man is one of them. It also includes the remains found in Dali, Jinniu Mountain and Hualong Cave, as well as the jaw bones of the Xiahe people found on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Whether these remains represent primitive samples of Homo erectus, Neanderthals, Denisovans, or other completely different races, there has been fierce debate.
The Denisovans were first identified by DNA extracted from phalanges 50,000 to 30,000 years ago found in the Denisovan caves in Russia. Because of the fragmentation of the remains related to the sister lineage of Neanderthals, this group is called the “genome for looking for fossil records.”
Professor Marta Mirazon Lahr of the University of Cambridge believes that the dragon people are actually Denisovans.
“The Denisovans are an interesting and mysterious group in ancient times. From the DNA evidence, the jawbone found on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau may belong to the Denisovans.” She said, “Because of the jawbone and dragon found in Tibet. Humans are very similar. We may have spotted Denisovan’s face for the first time now.”
A research team recently published a group of remains from Israel that may belong to a pre-Neanderthal species. The team believes that the dragon people may be the descendants of humans who first appeared in the Levant.
But Chinese researchers insist that these difficult to classify fossils from East Asia represent the gradual evolution of a new population. Professor Ni responded politely to those who disagreed with the evaluation.
He said: “The result will cause a lot of controversy, and I believe many people disagree with our views.”
“But that is science. It is because of different perspectives that science can make progress.”