Remains Discovered in China May Belong to Third Human Lineage

In East China, specifically at the site called Hualongdong, scientists conducted an excavation and discovered fossils pointing to a possible third human lineage. To understand these fossils better, they performed two types of assessments: a morphological assessment on the shape and structure and a geometric assessment on the measurements and angles.

Paleontologists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with researchers from Xi’an Jiaotong University, the University of York, the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the National Research Center on Human Evolution concluded that, as published in the Journal of Human Evolution, there previously existed a formerly unknown human ancestor.

Findings of the discovery

In their study, the team examined the fossilized remains of a jawbone, a part of a skull, and several hominin leg bones. These fossils date back to a staggering three hundred thousand years ago. Experts first focused on the jawbone, which displayed unique characteristics, namely a triangular lower edge and an unusual bend.

The research team found that these features shared similarities with both present-day humans and Late Pleistocene hominids. However, the absence of a chin indicated a closer relationship with older species. Hence, there is a possibility of an unknown human lineage.

Additionally, they observed other traits resembling hominins from the Middle Pleistocene period. When all these findings were considered together, it was concluded that the individual was most similar to a species called Homo erectus.

As a result, they suggest that this discovery represents a combination of features from both modern humans and ancient hominids.

Significance of the findings

The combination of features seen in these fossils has not been observed before in East Asian hominids. This suggests that some of the traits found in modern humans might have appeared as far back as three hundred thousand years ago.

After investigating the skull, which a previous team had identified as the first-ever Middle Pleistocene human skull found in southeastern China, the new team made a notable discovery.

The facial bones in the skull were found to bear more resemblance to those of modern humans in terms of the jawbone.

To identify the species to which the remains belonged, the team ruled out the possibility of them being Denisovan. This narrowed down the options, leading them to believe that the fossils might represent a third lineage, one that is neither Denisovan nor Homo erectus but is instead more closely related to Homo sapiens (modern humans).

If this were true, it would indicate that this species likely shared some evolutionary connections with hominins from the Middle or Late Pleistocene periods, resulting in certain common characteristics.