GS PAPER III: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.

Context: Researchers from China have claimed to have found an ancient human skull that could belong to an altogether new species of humans.

• The cranium (the portion that encloses the brain) could be over 146,000 years old.
• The skull was found in the Songhua river in north-east China’s Harbin city.
• Homo sapiens, the species to which all existing humans belong, evolved in Africa nearly 300,000 years ago as a result of some dramatic climate change events.
• Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) are believed to be the closest extinct human relatives and lived about 400,000-40,000 years ago in Europe and southwestern to central Asia.
• These researchers note that this archaic Homo population had mastered the use of technology that until recently was linked only to Homo sapiens or Neanderthals.

How many species of humans are there?

• Modern humans are the only human species that exist in the world today.
• While the exact number of human species is a matter of debate, most scientists believe that there are at least 21 of them.

So where does the “Dragon Man”, the latest Chinese discovery, fit in?

• The cranium found in China has been dubbed the “Dragaon Man” or Homo longi, a name that has been derived from the Long Jiang or Dragon river in the Heilongjiang province of China where the city of Harbin is located.
• The skull was reportedly discovered back in 1933, when a bridge was built over the Songhua river. For thousands of years, the skull remained buried in sediments.
• Significantly, the size of the skull, which has a considerable brain capacity, is comparable to that of modern humans and Neanderthals.

Why is this discovery being considered significant?

• For one, it brings new knowledge about the evolution of Homo sapiens — which is to say that if the “Dragon Man” is indeed a new species, it might help to bridge the gaps between our ancient ancestors called Homo erectus and us.
• This knowledge is important because there is very little consensus in the scientific community about how different human species are related, and which species are our immediate ancestors.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-chinas-dragon-man-its-significance-and-where-it-fits-in-the-evolutionary-tree-of-modern-humans-7377216/

Download PDF