Is this a new species of humans?

A strange type of fossil was found in China recently, which does not match the fossils of human species known till now. Does this fossil point to the existence of a new organism?

This fossil neither matches the primitive humans found in Europe 35 thousand to one and a half million years ago nor with modern humans.

This is completely different, but there is no definite decision about which organism belongs to the fossil.

However, fossils indicate that the existence of humans of an unknown species existed from 60 thousand to one lakh 20 thousand years ago.

It is possible that these fossils can be of the transition period between any two known species.

Species of humans

Four human species existed in primitive times on Earth. Till then the modern person was not detected. These remains found in Europe are called Neanderthals, while primitive humans living in Asia were called Denisovans.

There is also a species of primitive humans found in Indonesia, which is called Hobbit. Apart from these there was also a mysterious fourth group, who lived in Europe and Asia. This group was considered a hybrid group of Denisovans.

Now with the founding of new fossils in China, the picture has become somewhat more blurred.

This fossil was first discovered in 1976 in the caves of Shujiao. Some skull fragments and nine tooth fossils of four people were found in it. Its full details are published in the American Physical Anthropology Journal.

Landscape in miniature
Maria Martín Taurais of the National Research Center on Human Evolution in Burgos, Spain and her colleagues studied these teeth and matched them to samples of about 5000 teeth of known human species.

"These teeth look like a landscape in miniature painting. Its slopes, grooves and moats all combine to create a feature that can belong to a population group," says Martinon Tauras.

However, it is so clear that these fossils do not match the teeth of any modern human species. But some properties are definitely similar to humans of primitive species. Some parts match Neanderthal.

New species?
Martinon Tauras does not claim to call it a new species

He said, "It belongs to neither Homo sapiens, nor Homo neanderthalensis. It is in the very early stages. We cannot call it a new species. We need to evaluate many more things."

"These fossils may be of Denisovans species," says Torres.

However, only one fossil of the Denisovans species was found in a cave in Siberia, which included two teeth and a finger bone.

Examination of its DNA revealed that Neanderthals are different from modern humans and include the merits of both. According to Torres, the pattern of teeth found in shujiao is also similar.

Difference
Darren Cuerno of the University of New South Wales, Australia, says, "There are indications that this is a fossil of a completely new species. I have no doubt about it."

According to Darren Cuerno, it is evident from the tooth surface that they are fossils of the new species. Cuerno has already told in detail about Red Deer Cave People, a mysterious species of China.

According to Matthew Skinner of Kent University, Great Britain, fragments of fossils found in Asia are so dispersed that it is difficult to detect the species through them.

Need to research
Fred Spur of University College London seems to agree with Schemer's opinion. He says, "The fossil has modern and primitive remains. It is like a hybrid. However, it is purely speculative."

According to Professor Eric Trinkaus of Washington University in St. Louis Missouri, there is some gap in the fossil record because part of the remains have been destroyed.

Matthias Meyer of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, says the answer will come from the fossil's DNA report.

According to Torres, more and more analysis of Asian fossils will lead to results. According to Cuerno, East Asia has been neglected for a long time.

He says, "We should be prepared for some surprising results that will differ from the traditional understanding of the fossils of Europe and Africa."