Researchers Categorize New Human Species After Fossils Found in China Reveal a Group That Vanished 50,000 Years Ago

Extensive analysis of remains found in different sites in China has led researchers to categorize new human species called Homo juluensis. Most of these remains were uncovered at various points in the 20th century. Further examinations show that this species possibly includes Denisovans—ancient human relatives yet to be fully understood by scientists, stated the University of Hawaiʻi. According to researchers, this group lived around 300,000 years ago in eastern Asia. The findings indicate they hunted horses, created stone tools and processed animal hides. The group seems to have disappeared around 50,000 years ago. Findings regarding this new species have been published in Nature.

The team believes their organization of the remains helped them in identifying the new species. The team also took into consideration similar remains uncovered in Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia. "This study clarifies a hominin fossil record that has tended to include anything that cannot easily be assigned to Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis, or Homo sapiens," study author Professor Christopher J. Bae from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Department of Anthropology in the College of Social Sciences stated. "Although we started this project several years ago, we did not expect to be able to propose a new hominin (human ancestor) species and then to be able to organize the hominin fossils from Asia into different groups. Ultimately, this should help with science communication."

These fossils are clear examples of the variety and complex features that dominated ancient human species that co-existed during the Middle and Late Pleistocene epochs. Researchers noted that this group had a large cranium along with thick skulls, something which has been observed in Neanderthals, modern humans, and Denisovans. This feature played a role in its naming, as 'juluensis' translates to "big head".

Researchers believe the examination is crucial as it enables them to understand how human evolution panned out in Asia, something which has been a difficult topic to handle for scientists. The findings fill some gaps in the evolution trajectory of ancient humans, as per experts. "Thanks largely to a growing hominin fossil record, the field of Late Quaternary eastern Asian paleoanthropology is in the midst of significant and important change that is contributing tremendously to how we view and are refining these evolutionary models," the researchers wrote.

Experts think that fossils found in Xujiayao, Xuchang, Xiahe, Penghu, and Tam Ngu Hao 2 sites in China belonged to these species. They also speculated that Denisovans, an enigmatic group of human relatives whose remains have been detected in Siberia, Tibet, and Laos, are also associated with Homo juluensis. These links were established primarily based on the similarities noted in the jaw and teeth composition of these fossils. 

Researchers think that these fossils are proof that evolution was expansive and cannot be explained by a simple model. "The eastern Asian hominin fossil record is an excellent example of how unilineal models of evolution, such as traditional multiregionalism, cannot adequately explain the complexity in the paleoanthropological record, particularly during the Late Quaternary," the authors wrote. "If anything, the eastern Asian record is prompting us to recognize just how complex human evolution is more generally and really forcing us to revise and rethink our interpretations of various evolutionary models to better match the growing fossil record." The assertion of Homo juluensis as a new human species is yet to be accepted by the scientific community and concerned authorities.