A 1-million-year-old human skull is shedding new light on the origins of humans. A skull discovered in China may belong to the Homo longi species, also known as the “dragon man.” The million-year-old skull suggests that the origins of the first human species are older than previously thought.
The skull, known as Yunxian 2, was first discovered in China’s Hubei province in 1990. The finding suggests that early humans had already split into different groups by a million years ago, doubling the time it took for Homo sapiens to emerge. The finding could be the closest we’ve ever come to the ancestors from which Homo sapiens evolved.
Some genetic studies that examine ancient human DNA have contradicted these results, so experts are expecting a clash of opinions.
