Reports from excavations at East China suggests that the Human species may have another cousin. Among the discoveries from Hualonddong, fossilized remains of leg bones, a jaw, and a skull were uncovered dating back 300,000 years. The team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences at Xi'an Jiaotong University are responsible for this "jaw-dropping" discovery.
In collaboration with other Institutions, such as the University of York, the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Research Center on Human Evolution, the research team analysed fossilised remains.
The skull referred to earlier was the first ever middle-Pleistocene human skull in southeastern China.
Comparative analysis indicates that the jawbone bears resemblance to the types found in modern humans and hominids of the Late Pleistocene Epoch. However, the research team points out that they are related to an older species, as there is an absence of the chin. Upon further research, the team has suggested that the hominid in question, is a hybrid of the modern human and predecessing hominids.
In regards to lineage, the team had ruled out the possibility of Denisovans, as they propose that the fossils represent a third lineage, closer to the Homo Sapiens, than the Denisovans or Homo Erectus.
To know more Read: Journal of Human Evolution 2023