A ONE-million-year-old skull found in China might belong to a species of ancient human known as the “Dragon Man”.
In 1989 and 1990, a pair of skulls belonging to an unknown human species were found in Yunyang District of Hubei province before a third similar skull was found nearby in 2022.
The skull discovered in 2022, was named ‘the Yunxian Man’, baffled archaeologists due to its strange shape and features.
A new study recreated a full 3D model of the better preserved skull, revealing it had facial bones of a human but a flattened cranium, boxed eyes and thicker brow bone of Homo longi.
Researchers believe the 900,000 year-old individual was part Homo Sapien and part Homo longi – or Dragon Man.
This suggests that the Yunxian Man may be the last common ancestor of modern humans and the mysterious long-lost Dragon Man lineage.
Study authors reconstructed the three Yunyang skulls, known as the ‘Yunxian Man’ and found that many aspects of its cranium looked as if it belonged to an early member of the Dragon Man lineage.
“The reconstructed Yunxian 2 suggest that it is an early member of the Asian ‘Dragon Man’ lineage, which probably includes the Denisovans, and is the sister group of the Homo sapiens lineage,” the study authors write.
The Denisovans are another species or subspecies of archaic human that ranged across Asia during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic period.
The authors added: “Both the H. sapiens and Dragon Man lineages had deep roots extending beyond the Middle Pleistocene, and the basal position of the Yunxian fossil cranium suggests it represents a population lying close to the last common ancestor of the two lineages.
“It is reasonable to conclude that Yunxian is morphologically and chronologically close to the last common ancestor of the lineages of H. sapiens and Dragon Man.
The skull was one of three found in China over the past 50 years that scientists were initially baffled by – unable to identify their origins.
The archaic well-preserved skull, dates back 146,000 years and was discovered in Heilongjiang province, China in 1933.
It was found by a Chinese man who was forced to build a bridge across the Songhua River in Harbin while Japanese soldiers occupied northern China 90 years ago.
He hid the skull in a well and never went back for it.
The skull was made known by the bridge builder’s grandchildren who retrieved it after their grandfather told them about it prior to his death.
The cranium was then donated to the Geoscience Museum at Hebei GEO University.
Scientists named the skull Homo longi, which is derived from Heilongjiang, or Black Dragon River, the province where the cranium was located.
It’s widely accepted that there were two archaic human species – Neanderthals and Denisovans – which roamed the Earth as distinct groups until about 30,000 years ago – and had distinct features.
But the Yunxian man skull was difficult to put into a single category.
Based on its physical characteristics and location, researchers had thought it could be a member of the Denisovan family that originated in Asia about 500,000 years ago.
While the Yunxian man had an elongated skull, similar to Denisovans, it also had a distinct, boxy eyes that set it apart.
However, researchers have speculated that the ‘Dragon Man’ lineage could include Denisovans since the groups lived on Earth around the same time.
After analysing the new skull, the researchers determined its traits were similar to those found in early humans and Dragon Men, meaning that it was likely an offspring of both.
Dr. Thomas Hughes is a UK-based scientist and science communicator who makes complex topics accessible to readers. His articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to cutting-edge research.
