What a million-year-old skull could reveal about human evolution
Ancient skull unearthed in China challenges human origin story
- A fossilized human skull, Yunxian 2, found in China and dated to approximately one million years ago, suggests a radical shift in understanding human origins.
- New computer modelling and genetic analysis indicate the skull belongs to Homo longi, a sister species to Neanderthals and modern humans, rather than Homo erectus as previously thought.
- This research implies that Homo sapiens may have emerged at least half a million years earlier than the previously accepted 300,000 years ago, potentially existing a million years ago.
- The findings suggest that Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, and Homo longi could have co-existed for up to 800,000 years, significantly extending their shared period on Earth.
- While the study, published in Science, is welcomed by experts, some caution is advised regarding the precise timing estimates due to the inherent difficulty in such analyses.