Ancient Dragon Man of China

The DNA of China’s ancient ‘Dragon Man’ puts a face to a mysterious group of ancient humans.

A skull was recovered from the bottom of a well in Northeastern China in 2018. It didn’t match any previously known species of prehistoric human. Scientists now say they have evidence where the fossil fits.

After several attempts, researchers finally extracted genetic material from the fossilized cranium, which had been nicknamed ‘Dragon Man’. It has now been linked to a group of early humans known as Denisovans. Several Denisovan fossilized bone fragments had already been found but offered little idea what these ancient hominins looked like. The group had never been assigned an official scientific name.

Skulls are usually considered the best type of remains to understand the appearance of extinct hominin species. This new finding could put a face to the Denisovans.

Denisovans were first discovered in 2010 from a fossilized pinkie found in Denisova Cave in Russia. Additional remains in the cave and elsewhere in Asia have added to the picture.

The new findings could fill in some gaps about the time when Homo sapiens weren’t the only humans on the planet. For tens of thousands of years, our species coexisted and interbred with both Denisovans and Neanderthals.

The Dragon Man skull was discovered in 1933 in northeastern China. A laborer was constructing a bridge when he discovered the skull. He took it home and stored it at the bottom of a well for safekeeping. The cranium remained hidden for decades until his relatives learned about it and donated it to the Hebei GEO University. Studies published in 2021 stated the skull was at least 146,000 years old.

Researchers argued over whether the fossil was of a new species. Some thought it might be Denisovan, and others lumped it in with a cache of hard-to-classify fossils found in China.

Based on the molecular evidence linking the skull to Denisovans, it will be easier for paleoanthropologists to classify other potential Denisovan remains. It also makes it more evident what Denisovans might have looked like: very strong brow ridges, brains about the same size at in Neanderthals and modern humans, with large teeth. They would have had a blocky and robust appearance.

If dressed in modern attire, they would be recognizable as ‘human’.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/dragon-man-dna-revelation-puts-a-face-to-a-mysterious-group-of-ancient-humans/ar-AA1GXZKS?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=44c63277a1b1486092eb1af40fb6912d&ei=90

Fragments of a Face

In a cave in the Sierra de Atapuerca mountains of northern Spain called Sima del Elefante, researchers have found fossilized bone fragments of the earliest known face in Western Europe. The hominin who owned the face is estimated to be 1.1 million to 1.4 million years old.

Discovered in 2022, portions of the left side of an adult face significantly predate those of Homo antecessor, the oldest hominin species previously found at the site. The remains were named “Pink” after the rock band Pink Floyd.

Hominins include all the groups of modern humans, extinct human species, and all our immediate ancestors.

Pink doesn’t fit into the known hominin species, and has, for now, been classified as Homo affinis erectus, which means they are closely related to Homo erectus, an extinct species of man. In Latin, Homo erectus means “upright man”.

Pink’s facial features are more primitive than modern man. It resembles Homo erectus, especially with its flat nasal structure. But it is possible that pink may belong to another species.

This archaeological site was discovered at the end of the 19^th century and early 20^th century. It has been systematically excavated since 1978. Besides ancient human skulls, it has revealed evidence of cannibalism. At the same level of the cave were found animal remains with cut marks and stone tools.

Pink lived in a humid forest landscape with water streaming through the area. It was a wetter, more temperate climate than it is now. These fossilized facial pieces add to our knowledge of some of the first human relatives in Europe. The discovery supports the idea that Pink was a relative of Homo erectus fossils found much further east, as far as Indonesia, as well as in Africa.

The discovery that different hominin populations occupied Western Europe during the early Pleistocene epoch suggests that this region was a key point in man’s evolutionary history. The early Pleistocene epoch extends from 2.6 million years ago to 781,000 years ago.

It seems that Pink occupied an evolutionary space between the oldest known hominins (in South Africa, roughly 3.4 to 3.7 million years ago) and Homo antecessor (about 860,000 years ago). Researchers said that the evidence points to the hominins arrived in Spain via Eastern Europe.

There is more work to do, like excavating lower levels of Sima del Elefante, so they may find even more surprises.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fragments-of-a-face-more-than-a-million-years-old-found-in-spanish-cave/ar-AA1AMV64?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=92b66b3d61ca48d8deba7416e37ab7fb&ei=87