An international team of paleontologists has found material evidence indicating the existence of a previously unknown human lineage that existed approximately 300,000 years ago.
The discovery of an ancient, oddly shaped skull unearthed in China could prompt a revision of the story of human evolution.
According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, researchers excavated a site in Hualongdong cave in eastern China’s Anhui province and found a fossilized jawbone, part of a skull and leg bones. of a hominid.
Unlike all hominids found before, this fossil does not fit neatly with the established evolutionary traits of Neanderthals, Denisovans, or modern humans. Unsure on which branch of the human family tree to place the specimen, scientists have proposed that the fossil it may belong to a completely new species.
A new line?
On closer inspection, the fossilized remains are an enigma due to their distinctive physical characteristics which diverge from recognized human lines.
Virtual reconstruction of the fossils discovered. Credit: Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology / Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Initially, it was thought that the mixed traits could be attributed to their young age, as they are believed to belong to a boy who lived to be around 12 or 13 years old. However, comparative analyzes with adult and immature hominin specimens have discredited this theory.
The fossil’s jawbone has a unique triangular shape and curve, closely resembling both modern humans and ancient hominids. end of the Pleistocene. However, the lack of a chin is more reminiscent of the Denisovans, an ancient group of hominids distinct from Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.
Credit: Wu et al., Journal of Human Evolution, 2023.
According to the team, which involved scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong University and York University in the UKthese remains could be a hybrid between the branch that leads to modern humans and the one that produces other ancient humans from the same region, such as the Denisovans.
Although its face has features similar to those of modern humans, the limbs, skull and jaw appear to reflect more primitive features, the study authors said.
Mixture of hominid and human traits
According to the team, which involved scientists from Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong University and York University in the UKthese remains could be a hybrid between the branch that leads to modern humans and the one that produces other ancient humans from the same region, such as the Denisovans.
This combination of modern human and ancient hominin traits has never before been observed in fossils found in East Asia, which the scientists say suggests that “traits found in modern humans began to appear 300,000 years ago.
The discovery would mean that some “modern” attributes appeared long before the presence of Homo sapiens in China around 120,000 years ago.
The specimen, which belongs to a 12 or 13-year-old boy labeled “HLD 6,” exhibits a mixture of primitive and modern human characteristics. Credit: Wu et al., Journal of Human Evolution, 2023.
So far, scientists have not been able to determine the exact species to which the recovered remains belong. it is not excluded that it could be a third line of ancient hominids close to ‘Homo sapiens’, which until now was not known.
You may also be interested: Humans have DNA from an as yet unidentified ancestor.
Thus, research tells us that the story of human evolution remains a work in progress, with many surprises yet to be discovered.
The research was published in the journal Journal of Human Evolution.
References: Infobae.
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