The digital reconstruction of a million old skull shows that people can abandon our ancient ancestors 400,000 years earlier than they thought, and in Asia, non -Africa, a study has been found.
The conclusions published on Thursday are based on the 1990s. The reconstruction of a skull found in China and has the opportunity to solve the long -standing “muddle in the middle” in the middle of human evolution, the researchers said.
However, experts who are not involved in work warned that the conclusions would probably be challenged and noted the constant uncertainty in human evolution in time zone.
In the past, it was believed that the skull marked by the Yunxian 2 belongs to the human predecessor called Homo erectus.
However, modern reconstruction technologies have revealed closer to species that were previously believed to exist only in later human evolution, including the recently discovered Homo Longi and our own homo sapiens.
“It changes a lot of thinking,” said Chris Stinger, an anthropologist of the London Museum of Natural History, who was part of the research team.
“This shows that 1 million years ago, our ancestors were already divided into separate groups, indicating much earlier and more complexity of human evolution than they thought before,” he added.
The conclusions shocked the research team.
“From the beginning, when we got the result, we thought it was incredible. How can it be so deep into the past?” Xijun Ni, a professor at Fudan University, told BBC News. “But we have tried all the models again and again, we use all the methods. We are now sure of the result and really very excited.”
This impression of the artist shows a group of archaic people hunting in the woods about 1 million years ago in the province of Hubei in China. / Credit: Jiannan Bai and Xijun Ni/ Dones Through Reuters
If the conclusions are correct, it shows that investigators said there could have been members of many other early hominines, including Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.
These are also “dirty waters” due to the long -term assumptions that early people scattered from Africa, said Michael Petraglia, director of the Griffith University Australian Evolution Research Center, who did not participate in the study.
“There can be a big change here when East Asia is now playing a very important role in hominin’s evolution,” he told Agence France-Presse.
“Many questions”
According to the BBC News, the study published by The Journal Science used advanced methods of CT scanning, light imaging and virtual reconstruction to model the detailed Yunxian 2. The team then printed the 3D printer replica.
The researchers were partly relied on by another similar skull to form their model, and then compared it to more than 100 other copies.
The resulting model “shows a distinctive combination of traits,” the researchers said, some of which resemble homo erections, including designing the lower face.
This impression of the artist shows the leader of an adult man who lived about 1 million years ago in the province of China Hubei, based on the digital reconstruction of the ancient archaic human skull, known as the Yunxian 2 in this image published in 2025. September 25th
According to the study, other aspects, including the obviously greater ability of the brain, are closer to Homo Longi and Homo Sapiens.
“Yunxian 2 can help us solve what is called the” Muddle in the middle “, a confusing set of human fossils from 1 to 300,000 years,” Stringer said in a press release.
Many people’s evolution remains discussed, and Petraglia said the findings of the study were “provocative”, albeit based on strong work.
“It’s very good, but I think the jurors are still not released. I think a lot of questions will be raised,” he said.
Andy Herries, an archaeologist at La Trobe University, said he was not convinced by the conclusion and that genetic analysis showed mineral morphology or form, “it was not always a great indicator of human evolution.”
“They have this interpretation that I just don’t really think that the genetic story of these things we know is taken into account,” he said.
Genetician of the University of Cambridge, dr. Aylwyn Scally said BBC News that although the findings of the study were likely to be expected, they were far from and needed more evidence.
“This image is still unclear to us, so if the findings of this study are confirmed by other analyzes, ideally from some genetic data, then I think we would start to get more and more confident,” he told the BBC News.
The process of digital reconstruction, used on the archaic human skull, called the Yunxian 2, which in 1990 Was excavated in the China’s province, shown in this image published in 2025. September 25th Fig. A. Figure B depicts a skull, which are marked in the same colors as in Figure A, after scientists used advanced CT scanning, structured light image and modern virtual reconstruction methods to digitally reconstruct the skull. Figure C shows a digital reconstructed skull, whose missing pieces are marked with white. / Credit: Xijun Ni/ Donent Part Through Reuters
The results are only in the latest in the queue, which made what we think we know about our origin.
Long man Also known as a “dragon man” It itself was named only as a new species, and in 2021. Close to his relative, consisting of a team participated in Striger.
The authors said their work shows the complexity of our common history.
“Fossil, such as Yunxian 2, shows how much we still need to learn about our origin,” Striger said.
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