Anthropologists who have studied a fossil known as the Harbin Skull preserved at Hebei University’s Museum of Earth Sciences believe they have discovered a new species of ancient human.

And The Innovation magazine indicates that scientists found this skull in the thirties of the last century near the city of Harbin. This skull is the largest ancient skull found so far. According to scientists, it can accommodate a brain the size of a modern human brain. Other features differ from Neanderthals and Homo sapiens – the eyes are roughly square, the edges of the eyebrows are thick, the mouth is wide and the teeth are large.

Professor Jiang Yi, Professor of Paleontology at Hebei University, says, “The Harbin fossil is one of the largest and most complete ancient human skulls in the world, retaining many morphological details, which are crucial to understanding the evolution of Homo sapiens and the origin of Homo sapiens. But although it displays Archaic archaic features, however, are a mosaic mixture of primitive and derived traits, which differ from all other previously known human species.

Scientists have named the new species Homo longi. The results of a series of geochemical analyzes showed that the skull was about 146,000 years old, and that it belonged to a man about 50 years old.

“They were like Homo sapiens hunting mammals and birds and gathering fruits and vegetables, and perhaps they were catching fish,” says Professor Xijun Ni, professor of primitive zoology and palaeoanthropology at Hebei University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Scientists believe, that the large size of the skull found in northern China indicates that Homo longi was adapted to live in harsh climatic conditions, and it is not excluded that it spread throughout Asia, and perhaps, even intersected with the first representatives of Homo sapiens.

Professor Ni points out, “Harbin’s skull gives us more evidence of human diversity and the evolutionary relationship between ancient species.”

He adds, “There is a common opinion that Neanderthals belonged to an extinct lineage close to the human race. But our discovery indicates, that the new lineage that we have identified is in fact a sister group to Homo sapiens.”

The professor concludes, “The time difference between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals in evolutionary history may be deeper than thought. This may have happened more than a million years ago.”