After discovery of a skull in China, researchers say it could represent a new human species. Dubbed Homo longi, or "Dragon Man", scientists say that it could be the closer to modern humans than Neanderthals.
The skull dates back at least 146,000 years, placing it in the Middle Pleistocene era. Findings show it could hold a brain comparable in size to that of modern humans but with larger eye sockets, thick brow ridges, a wide mouth and oversized teeth. The finding could potentially reshape our understanding of human evolution, say experts.
The Harbin cranium was discovered in the 1930s but was reportedly hidden in a well for 85 years to protect it from the Japanese army, until it was handed to a professor at Hebei GEO University, in 2018. The findings were published in three papers in the journal The Innovation.