Dragon Man Emerges: Latest Reconstruction of Homo Longi from China
The Homo longi skull was found 90 years ago in China. Only a few years ago was it established that it belonged to a previously unknown human species. What similarities and differences link it to modern humans?
The history of human evolution still holds many secrets. Researchers regularly uncover new fossils or discover unknown facts about findings from years past. Thanks to these, we know not only how our ancestors and relatives looked but also how they lived and the course of their migrations. Recently, Homo longi is once again on the tongues of scientists. This is due to the latest reconstruction of the face of the so-called Dragon Man. Its name comes from Long Jiang, or the Dragon River, in the Heilongjiang province in China.
What did Homo longi look like?
The research on Homo longi dates back to 1933. It was then, on the Chinese Plain, that an almost entirely complete skull was found, dating back at least 146,000 years. The discovery, as often happens, occurred by chance. At that time, a bridge was being built over the Songhua River, and the skull was found by workers. Its origin remained a mystery for a long time, primarily due to unfavorable wartime conditions for research. Eventually, the skull reached paleontologists in 2018. It was only a few years…
