Reporters from the Institute of ancient vertebrates and ancient humans of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have learned that the team of researchers at the Institute Ninhua has re-analyzed an ancient human skull fossil that originated in China, about 1 million years ago, revealing a new evolutionary branch closely related to the mysterious ancient human "Denisova" - "Homo longi" - and has greatly advanced the time of differentiation between modern humans, Neanderthals and this ancient human branch in Asia, far beyond previous academic consensus.

In recent years, with the rapid development of ancient anthropology and archaeology, more and more important specimens have been discovered and named successively, many of which have been officially named new species¡ªincluding the Nardians, the Lusonians, the Giant Cranians, and the dragons that this study focuses on.

However, the relatives between these newly discovered fossils, especially how they relate to known human species such as the Sage, Neanderthal, Heidelberg, and Straight, remain the focus of controversy.

The researchers conducted the study of the skull fossil known as the "Country Man 2". The fossil was discovered in 1990 in Hubei Province Hubei County (now Hubei City Hubei District). Because the fossil was severely deformed at the time of landing, the difficulty of research was great, was initially assigned to the straight man Hubei County Man 2 "not only has a reliable geological estimation of the age, but also a very rare human remains millions of years ago, so it is crucial to clarify the human evolutionary spectrum.

The research team used high-precision CT scanning and structured light surface scanning technology to clearly identify the fissures, mineral fillings and undeformed bone fragments in the "Yunxianren No.2" fossil, and then completed the fine splicing of the skull in a virtual way through innovative digital reconstruction methods. The reconstructed skull of "Yunxianren No.2" presents a blending of primitive and progressive features: the low frontal bone and prominent snout are similar to older Homo erectus or Homo heidelbergensis; The flat and low cheekbones, wider posterior skull and larger brain capacity are similar to those of Dragon Man and Middle Pleistocene human fossils unearthed in Dali, Jinniushan, Hualongdong and Xujiayao. At the same time, the study found that the brain capacity of this million-year-old skull actually exceeded 1100 ml.

It is not a straight man, but an early representative of the dragon tribe, which is closely related to the Denisova people. This shows that human ancestors had divided into several independent evolutionary groups a million years ago, and that their distinction was much earlier and complexer than we could have imagined in the past. According to this new genealogical framework, most of Asia¡¯s renewed human fossils ¨C including the Lilium, the Volcano, the Wharong Cave, the Chum, the Summer River, the Penang and the Denisova Cave, as well as the dragon-like skulls found in the Harbin River section ¨C all belonged to the dragon tribe. The tribe had a recent common ancestor with the intelligents.

Those who helped scientists clarify the human evolutionary fog between 1 million and 300,000 years ago reminded us that we don¡¯t know much more about the origins of mankind than we know.

(President of the Central Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan)