Researchers unveil ancient skull nicknamed as 'Dragon Man'
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The species is nicknamed 'Dragon Man' and it represents a human group that lived in East Asia around 146,000 years ago. Found at Harbin, north-east China, in 1933, the species only gained the attention of scientists recently.
In a recent development, Chinese researchers have unveiled an 'ancient skull' that could belong to a completely new species of human. The team claims that it is their 'closest evolutionary relative' among known species of ancient humans, such as Neanderthals and Homo erectus.
The species is nicknamed 'Dragon Man' and it represents a human group that lived in East Asia around 146,000 years ago. Found at Harbin, north-east China, in 1933, the species only gained the attention of scientists recently.
Prof Chris Stringer from London's Natural History Museum, who is one of the UK's leading experts in human evolution, and also a member of the research team was quoted by BBC saying that, "In terms of fossils in the last million years, this is one of the most important yet discovered". He added, "What you have here is a separate branch of humanity that is not on its way to becoming Homo sapiens (our species), but represents a long-separate lineage which evolved in the region for several hundred thousand years and eventually went extinct".
As per the researchers, the recent discovery can rewrite the story of human evolution. Also, this analysis suggests that it is more closely related to Homo sapiens as compared to Neanderthals.
The skull of the species is huge compared with the average skulls belonging to other human species and its brain was comparable in size to those from our species. Also, the species had large, almost square eye sockets, thick brow ridges, a wide mouth, and oversized teeth.
Xijun Ni, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Hebei GEO University in Shijiazhuang was quoted by BBC saying that "We found our long-lost sister lineage". He further added, "I said 'oh my gosh!' I could not believe that it was so well preserved, you can see all the details. It is a really amazing find!".