Newest human species

Described in the journal The Innovation on 25 June 2021, Homo longi ("Dragon Man") has been dated to at least 146,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene era. The fossil cranium was discovered in 1933 in Harbin City, Heilongjiang, northern China, but lay hidden for almost 90 years. It is huge and heavily browed, and has a broad but modern-looking face. Some experts think it represents the same species as the “Dali cranium”, excavated in 1978 also in China, in which case it could alternatively be called H. daliensis. The researchers posit that this species may be the closest kin of H. sapiens, ahead of Neanderthals, who currently hold that position.

The name “Dragon Man” is derived from the local Long Jiang (aka Dragon River).

The skull is 23 cm (9 in) long, 15 cm (5.9 in) wide and has a cranial capacity of 1,420 ml (86.7 cu in); by comparison, the average cranial capacity of modern humans is 1,350 ml (82.4 cu in). It was first found in sediment during the construction of a bridge over the Songhua River in a period when China was occupied by Japanese forces. To prevent it falling into enemy hands, one of a group of labourers secreted it away and hid it in a well. Its existence was only revealed in 2018 when one of the he confided to his grandson of its location shortly before he died.

Coincidentally, also on 25 June 2021, findings emerged in the journal Science describing another hitherto-unknown Homo type discovered in Israel and likewise dating from the Middle Pleistocene (c.120,000–140,000 years old). The ancient human remains have been dubbed the “Nesher Hamla Homo group” but not yet given a binominal designation. The scientists suggest that anatomical similarities to early hominins from Europe could indicate that this lineage, which may stretch back 400,000 years, gave rise to Neanderthals.

The “Dragon Man” research was a collaboration between institutes including Hebei GEO University, the China Geo-Environmental Monitoring Institute, the Chinese Academy of Science and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (all China) and the Natural History Museum in London, UK. The research was led by Professor Qiang Ji of Hebei GEO University.