This 1.63 million-year-old fossil may have been the first human (hominin) to inhabit China
- A new analysis of fossilised Homo erectus teeth suggests a connection to older fossils from Georgia and younger specimens from China
- The study could help fill a ‘huge time gap’ of more than 1 million years
Scientists believe they may have pinpointed one of the first hominins to live in China in the form of a 1.63 million-year-old Homo erectus fossil nicknamed “Lantian Man” found in northwest China.
Taken together, the findings offer an intriguing possibility that the Gongwangling Homo erectus could have been a connector between the fossils found in Georgia and the younger Homo erectus specimens discovered in China.
The scientists wrote that the information suggests a “temporal trend” between the older and younger specimens but acknowledged that more studies would be needed to confirm that the Homo erectus from Gongwangling was a descendant of the Georgia animals and an ancestor to the younger fossils found in China.
Regardless, the scientists said their study locks in the theory that “the Gongwangling hominin represents some of the earliest evidence of human occupation on this continent”.