Ancient Skull Found in China Is Unlike Any Human Seen Before : ScienceAlert

An international team of scientists has described an ancient human fossil in China unlike any other hominin found before.

It resembles neither the lineage that split to form Neanderthals, nor Denisovans, nor us, suggesting our current version of the human family tree needs another branch.

The jaw, skull, and leg bones belonging to this yet-to-be classified human, labeled HLD 6, were discovered in Hualongdong, in East Asia, in 2019. In the years since, experts at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have struggled to match the remains to a known lineage.

The hominin’s face is similarly…