A University of Hawaii researcher says he has found a new ancient human species called Homo juluensis. According to the scientist, the species lived approximately 300,000 years ago in East Asia, hunted wild horses and made stone tools before disappearing around 50,000 years ago.
The remains of 16 individuals analyzed by the researcher had large heads and teeth, as well as wide skulls. The measurements of their heads were larger than those of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.
Professor Christopher J. Bae of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa has been studying human ancestors throughout Asia for more than 30 years. His recent research, published in scientific journal Nature Communicationshelps clear up the mystery about the different types of ancient human-like species that coexisted in the region during the late Middle Pleistocene and early Late Pleistocene periods (approximately 300,000 to 50,000 years ago).
The researcher proposes that the new species includes the Denisovan population, whose DNA evidence from some physical remains found in Siberia and from fossils found in Tibet and Laos helped its discovery. More research is needed to test this relationship, based mainly on fossil jaws and teeth.
According to Bae, the discovery was possible thanks to a new way of organizing fossil evidence. His team created a system to classify and understand ancient human fossils from China, Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia.
“This study sheds light on a hominid fossil record that tends to include anything that cannot be easily attributed to the Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis or Homo sapiens“, says Bae, in statement released by the university.
“Although we started this project several years ago, we did not expect to be able to propose a new species of hominin (human ancestor) and then be able to organize the hominid fossils of Asia into different groups. Ultimately, this should help science communication.”
The work could help scientists better understand the history of human evolution in Asia, filling some gaps in understanding human ancestors.
This content was originally published in Researcher discovers supposed new prehistoric human species on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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