Scientists in China may have found an entirely new lineage of ancient humans after studying fragments of the mandible, skull and leg bones of a fossilised hominid that dates back at least 300,000 years.
A group of palaeontologists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong University, University of York, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Research Center on Human Evolution noted in their research published in the Journal of Human Evolution that the fossils were excavated from a site in Hualongdong, a region in East China.
The region has revealed an abundance of hominin fossils that dates back to a similar time period. The fossil (mandible and partial cranium) found by the palaeontologists has been labelled HLD 6, the study noted.
After performing both morphological and geometric analysis, scientists found certain distinctive traits in the jawbone such as a triangular lower edge and a unique bend.
Both these features are also found in modern humans and other species of hominins such as the Neanderthals and Denisovan during the late Middle Pleistocene epoch.
The jawbone’s unique features exhibited similarities to both modern humans and hominids of the late Middle Pleistocene period. Notably, it lacked a chin, suggesting a closer connection to older species. Additional traits reminiscent of the Middle Pleistocene hominins led the scientists to conclude that the fossil resembles a specimen of the Homo erectus.
This mosaic of traits from different human lineages has led scientists to believe that the specimen possessed a combination of characteristics from both ancient hominids and modern humans.
This was confirmed further when the scientists examined the skull and found that the facial bones shared greater similarities with those of modern humans as compared to the jawbone.
As scientists progressed further with their study, they ruled out the possibility of the fossil belonging to the Denisovan lineage. This conclusion suggests that the fossil is perhaps part of another lineage which is distinctively different from Denisovans and the Homo erectus, yet closer to Homo sapiens.
The study thus implies that this particular species probably shared close evolutionary relationships with hominin from the Middle to Late Pleistocene which resulted in shared characteristics.
