Possible New Human Species Discovered by Scientist, Shows Evidence
- A University of Hawaiʻi researcher revealed evidence of a possible new human species, Homo juluensis, which may have included the enigmatic Denisovans
- The study, published in Nature Communications, showed that these ancient humans lived in eastern Asia about 300,000 years ago, hunting wild horses and making stone tools before disappearing around 50,000 years ago
- Professor Christopher J. Bae credited a new way of organising fossil evidence for the breakthrough, helping to clarify Asia’s complex human evolutionary record
A University of Hawaiʻi researcher, Professor Christopher J. Bae, announced that he may have identified a new human species called Homo juluensis.
This species was said to include mysterious groups such as the Denisovans—ancient human relatives whose histories were still being uncovered.
Source: Getty Images
Research background in Human evolution
Professor Bae, from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Department of Anthropology in the College of Social Sciences, had studied human ancestors across Asia for more than 30 years.
His recent work, published in Nature Communications, helped clear up confusion about the different types of ancient human-like species that co-existed in Asia during the late Middle and early Late Pleistocene, a period roughly 300,000 to 50,000 years ago.
Life of Homo juluensis in Asia
Homo juluensis lived about 300,000 years ago in eastern Asia. They hunted wild horses in small groups, made stone tools, and possibly processed animal hides for survival.
The species disappeared around 50,000 years ago. Importantly, Bae proposed that Homo juluensis included the enigmatic Denisovans, who were known mainly through DNA evidence and a few fossils found in Siberia, Tibet, and Laos. More research was needed to confirm this relationship, which was based on similarities between jaw and teeth fossils from different sites.
Organisation breakthrough in fossil evidence
Professor Bae credited a new way of organising fossil evidence for the breakthrough.
He compared it to sorting an old family photo album where some pictures were blurry or hard to identify. His team created a clearer system for categorising ancient human fossils from China, 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,” Bae said.
“Although we started this project several years ago, we did not expect being able to propose a new hominin (human ancestor) species and then to be able to organise the hominin fossils from Asia into different groups. Ultimately, this should help with science communication.”
Source: Getty Images
Importance of the study
This research was significant because it helped scientists—and the wider public—better understand the complex story of human evolution in Asia. It filled in gaps in knowledge about ancient relatives and offered new insights into how different human-like species lived and interacted.
Bae’s co-author in Nature Communications was Xiujie Wu, a senior professor from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Beijing. Wu was the lead author on the taxonomic assignment and description of Homo juluensis.
New earth with conditions suitable for people found
Legit.ng earlier reported that in a finding published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics recently, a 'super-Earth' planet was found outside of the solar system that could have conditions suitable for life.
According to experts at the University of Oxford, the planet known as HD 20794 d has a mass six times greater than Earth's and orbits within the 'habitable zone' of a star similar to the sun.
Source: Legit.ng
