What happened: China discovered a skull having a unique structure. The new skull is claimed to be 140,000-years -old. Scientists say that the discovery can alter the understanding of human evolution.
Background: Scientists in China announced on Friday that the new skull founded has been preserved almost perfectly in northeastern China for 140,000-years. The skull representing new species of ancient humans are more closely related to us the Neanderthals – an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans that lived 40,000-years ago. The scientists while explaining the structure of the skull told that it belonged to a male in his 50s who had a large brain, thick brow-ridges, and deep pair of eyes. The wide structure of the skull had flat low cheekbones which made him resemble modern human beings more. The researchers linked the skull to other Chinese fossils and termed the new skull as ‘Homo longi‘ which translates to ‘Dragon Man’, which also gave the reference to the region where the skull was discovered. The skull was first founded in 1933 was called Harbin cranium, but was hidden in a well for 85 years to be protected by the Japanese army. The skull was later dug in 2018 and was given to a professor of Hebei GEO University, Ji Qiang. He stated that “While it shows typical archaic human features, the Harbin cranium presents a mosaic combination of primitive and derived characters setting itself apart from all the other previously named Homo species.” Co-author of National History Museum, London, stated “On our analyses, the Harbin group is more closely linked to Homo sapiens than the Neanderthals are – that is, Harbin shared a more recent common ancestor with us than the Neanderthals did. This would make Dragon Man our “sister species” and a closer ancestor of modern man than the Neanderthals.” Click here to see more from ProperGaanda.