The renowned “Harbinclanium” dates back at least 146,000 years, previously classified as a distinct species: Homo Longhi.
Reconstruction of Harbin’s individuals in his habitat. Image credit: Chuang Zhao.
The skull of Harbin was unearthed in 1933 during the construction of a bridge over the Songhua River in Harbin city, Jiangxi Province, China.
Due to systematic recovery processes over extensive periods, precise locations and data pertaining to the fossil layers were unfortunately lost.
The fossils are notably large, surpassing all other archaic humans, exhibiting a low and elongated shape that lacks the rounded contours typical of modern human crania.
Features include a large, nearly square eye socket, a pronounced brow ridge, a wide mouth, and prominent teeth.
The cranial capacity is estimated at 1,420 mL, aligning within the ranges of Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, and surpassing earlier Homo species.
This specimen, often referred to as the “Dragon Man” fossil, likely represents individuals under the age of 50.
In a recent study, Dr. Qiaomiei Fu from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and his colleague from the Institute for Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleontology performed a detailed analysis of the fossils and their dental calculus.
They identified over 308,000 peptides, around 20,000 proteins, and confirmed the presence of 95 endogenous proteins.
Additionally, they found 122 single amino acid polymorphisms (SAPs) unique to humanity, reaffirming the classification of the Harbin specimens within the Homo genus.
Significantly, three variants unique to Denisovans were identified, establishing a phylogenetic connection between the Harbin fossil and Denisova 3, small fragments from Denisova Cave.
“Prior to this discovery, Denisovan fossils were sparse and fragmented, complicating our understanding of their morphology and evolutionary background,” the researchers stated.
“The Harbin Fossils, identified as a new species Homo Longhi, exhibit crucial morphological similarities to Denisovan remains found elsewhere.”
Harbin’s personal portrait. Image credit: Cicero Moraes, doi: 10.6084/m9.figshare.24648591.
The researchers also successfully extracted mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the dental calculus of the fossil.
The findings confirmed that Harbin individuals belonged to the early mtDNA lineage of Denisovans.
“The mtDNA aligns with the variability observed in Denisovan mtDNA and is associated with the lineage carried by early Denisovan individuals in southern Siberia, previously identified in Denisova Caves,” the authors mentioned.
“This indicates that Denisovans occupied a broad geographical range across Asia during the mid-Pleistocene.”
The detection of Denisovan mtDNA in Harbin’s skull aids in linking Denisovans with distinct morphological traits and recognizing other specimens as Denisovan, particularly when ancient DNA is either poorly preserved or challenging to procure.
For instance, fossils from Dali, Jinniushan, and Hualongdong display comparable morphological features to the Harbin skull, suggesting they may represent the Denisovan population.
“The connection between Denisovan mtDNA and Harbin skull morphology enhances our understanding of the morphological relationships between Denisovans and other central Pleistocene fossils in East Asia,” the researchers concluded.
“Moreover, exploring host DNA from dental calculus opens new avenues for genetic research related to the mid-Pleistocene.”
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Qiaomei Fu et al. Harbin’s personal proteome from the late Pleistocene. Science published online on June 18th, 2025. doi:10.1126/science.adu9677
Qiaomei Fu et al. Denisovan mitochondrial DNA from the dental calculus of the Harbin skull, over 146,000 years old. Cell published online on June 18th, 2025. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.05.040
Source: www.sci.news
