Anthropology

Warpy

(113,130 posts) Fri Jun 25, 2021, 04:03 PM Jun 2021

Scientists hail stunning 'Dragon Man' discovery

"In terms of fossils in the last million years, this is one of the most important yet discovered," he told BBC News.

"What you have here is a separate branch of humanity that is not on its way to becoming Homo sapiens (our species), but represents a long-separate lineage which evolved in the region for several hundred thousand years and eventually went extinct."

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-57432104

Long and worthwhile article. One guess for which there is a lot of circumstantial evidence is that we might finally know what the Denisovans looked like.

6 replies

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Scientists hail stunning 'Dragon Man' discovery (Original Post) Warpy Jun 2021 OP

;-{) Goonch Jun 2021 #1

Thanks! Warpy Jun 2021 #3

Wow, Dragon Man was JACKED. n/t forgotmylogin Jun 2021 #2

Yeah and he LOST at the survival of the fittest! nt Shermann Jun 2021 #4

If he turns out to be Denisovan, he survived just fine Warpy Jun 2021 #5

Denisovan also survived through wnylib Jul 2021 #6

Goonch

(3,810 posts)

1. ;-{)

Reply to Warpy (Original post)

Fri Jun 25, 2021, 04:14 PM

Jun 2021

A reconstruction of Homo longi

Chuang Zhao

A large fossil skull discovered in China may belong to one of our mysterious long-lost relatives, the Denisovans, potentially offering us our first glimpse of a Denisovan face. It has, however, been placed in a new human species – Homo longi – a name that derives from a Chinese term meaning “dragon”, and that means the early hominin may become known informally as “dragon man”.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2282223-dragon-man-claimed-as-new-species-of-ancient-human-but-doubts-remain/

Warpy

(113,130 posts)

3. Thanks!

Reply to Goonch (Reply #1)

Fri Jun 25, 2021, 04:33 PM

Jun 2021

Given some of their artifacts, Denisovans were already surmised to have more upstairs than Neanderthals did If this skull is confirmed as Demisovan, it will answer a lot of questions a child's finger bone couldn't.

forgotmylogin

(7,676 posts)

2. Wow, Dragon Man was JACKED. n/t

Reply to Warpy (Original post)

Fri Jun 25, 2021, 04:30 PM

Jun 2021

Shermann

(8,641 posts)

4. Yeah and he LOST at the survival of the fittest! nt

Reply to forgotmylogin (Reply #2)

Fri Jun 25, 2021, 04:57 PM

Jun 2021

Warpy

(113,130 posts)

5. If he turns out to be Denisovan, he survived just fine

Reply to Shermann (Reply #4)

Fri Jun 25, 2021, 06:58 PM

Jun 2021

on the Tiobetan plateau, in Melanesia, and some Native American populations. He was especially the fittest at high altitude, since it was his genes that allowed people to adapt to extreme high altitude.

People in the Andes lack his advantages, so they resort to short stature, polycythemia, and coca.

wnylib

(24,393 posts)

6. Denisovan also survived through

Reply to Warpy (Reply #5)

Thu Jul 29, 2021, 10:47 AM

Jul 2021

intermating with Neanderthal who intermated with Homo sapiens. Some Asian populations have DNA from all 3.

From what I've read there are only a few small traces of Denisovan DNA in some Native American populations.

The highest amounts are in southeast Asia.

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