The parts identified as the limbs, skull cap, and jaw, thought to have originated from a child aged around 12 or 13, displayed what experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) described as "primitive characteristics." The child's remaining facial features, on the other hand, were strikingly similar to those of modern people.
The skull and jaws of HLD 6. (Journal of Human Evolution, 2023)
The findings have led the research team to theorize that a previously unknown lineage of hominins has been uncovered. This lineage represents a hybrid connection between the branch that gave rise to modern humans and the one that led to Denisovans in the same geographical area. The new discovery indicates the presence of three distinct lineages: the Homo erectus lineage leading to Homo sapiens, the Denisovan lineage, and a third genetically proximate branch in the hominin family tree in Asia.
This finding carries extra weight because earlier studies on Neanderthal remains across Europe and western Asia have pointed towards the existence of a fourth distinct lineage of human-like creatures during the Middle to Late Pleistocene period.
This missing group, however, has never been officially identified in the fossil record. The new findings complicate the path to modern humans. The mosaic of physical features found in this ancient hominin instead supports the coexistence of three lineages in Asia – the lineage of H. erectus, the lineage of Denisovan, and this other lineage that is "phylogenetically close" to us.
Homo sapiens first appeared in China some 120,000 years ago. It is possible that the last common ancestor of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals emerged in southwest Asia and spread to all continents. More archeological investigation will now be required to confirm that theory.
The new study was published in the Journal of Human Evolution.
