Dawn of Dragon Man
Bad news, Neanderthals... big-eyed ancient human is now our closest relative
A NEWLY discovered ancient human nicknamed ‘Dragon Man’ has replaced the Neanderthal as our closest known relative – a finding which ‘rewrites the history of evolution’.
The new species was identified from an almost perfectly intact skull fossil, known as the Harbin cranium, reportedly found in China in 1933 and hidden down a well for 85 years before being unearthed and analysed.
Dragon Man is believed to have had a bulbous nose and large eyes like the Neanderthals, but delicate cheekbones like us, Homo sapiens.
Scientists analysed more than 600 characteristics from the skull, from the size of its large teeth to the angle and length of individual bones, comparing them to 95 fossils of varying ancient humans.
The results conclude that it is a new species, also known as a lineage, and the Chinese scientists have named it Homo longi, or Dragon Man, after the geographic name of Dragon River for Heilongjiang Province, where it was found.
Researchers were surprised to learn he is our closest relative, based on the grouping of physical characteristics. It was previously thought Homo sapiens were most closely related to the Neanderthals – the last ancient humans we lived with on Earth, around 40,000 years ago, before modern humans became the only surviving species.
Professor Chris Stringer, a paleoanthropologist at the Nature History Museum in London, who collaborated with Chinese researchers on three studies about Dragon Man, published in scientific journal The Innovation, said: ‘This is a remarkable new piece in the jigsaw of human evolution – a fossil that will continue to add important information for many years to come.’
The skull that identified Dragon Man is thought to be at least 146,000 years old, from a middle-aged male. It has large, square-shaped eye sockets, a wide nose, upper jaw and brow ridge but is missing the bulge of bone that Neanderthals had at the back of their skulls.
He is believed to have lived in a forested, floodplain environment as part of a small community, hunting mammals and birds, and gathering fruit and veg. He may even have worn clothes and made shelters.
The discovery follows the identification of another ancient human, which lived in Israel around 140,000 years ago. The Nesher Ramla is believed to have evolved to become the European Neanderthal.