Iran Press/ Sci & Tech: A gigantic fossilized skull hidden in a well in China for 90 years has just been discovered by scientists — and it's making them rethink human evolution.
The skull was originally found in 1933 by Chinese laborers building a bridge in Harbin, a northern Chinese city, during the Japanese occupation, researchers said. To prevent the skull from falling into Japanese hands, it was wrapped and hidden in an abandoned well. It was only rediscovered in 2018 when the old man who originally hid it told his grandson, shortly before his death, CBS News reported.
The remarkably well-preserved fossil has been labeled a new human species, Homo longi, by Chinese researchers. The species has been dubbed "Dragon man," for the northern Chinese province where the skull was found, Heilongjiang — or in English, the "Black Dragon River" region.
In a series of three articles published in the research journal Innovation on Friday, scientists posited that the skull belonged to an approximately 50-year-old man. He would have had a wide nose to allow him to breathe uninhibited during heavy activity and probably would have been built sturdily to withstand the frigid regional winters, researchers wrote.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the Harbin cranium is its massive size, which, at 9 inches long and more than 6 inches wide, is significantly larger than the modern human skull.
The skull also has a cranial capacity of approximately 1,420 milliliters or 48 fluid ounces. That falls into the cranial capacity range of modern humans, but the skull also possesses many primitive features that make it a unique link between modern humans and Neanderthals.
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