CINCINNATI (WKRC) - Scientists have introduced what they believe may be a new ancient human species.
The Juluren, or "large head people," are believed to have lived in eastern Asia over 100,000 years ago.
Paleoanthropologists Xiujie Wu and Christopher Bae have put forward this claim, suggesting that the Juluren, formally named Homo juluensis, possessed significantly large brains and unique traits that could dramatically alter our understanding of human evolution.
The Juluren exhibit has features unlike any other hominins previously identified. Fossils of their faces and jaws revealed a mosaic of traits, some reminiscent of Neanderthals, combined with others unseen in Denisovans, Homo erectus, and even modern humans. These distinctions led Wu and Bae to propose the Juluren as a distinct form of ancient humans who coexisted with various hominins in Asia between 300,000 and 50,000 years ago.
"What really sets the Juluren apart is their brain size, which surpasses that of other known hominins of the era, including early Homo sapiens," said Wu.
This characteristic, along with their diverse physical traits, underscores the complexity of human evolution, particularly in eastern Asia.
For decades, fossils from this region that didn't fit neatly into categories like Homo erectus or Homo sapiens were often grouped under the broad label of "Denisovans." However, Wu and Bae's research now suggest that these human fossils represent a far more diverse evolutionary history of ancient human forms than previously assumed.
Experts in the field have responded with intrigue. Anthropologist John Hawks described the study as "provocative," emphasizing how much still remains to be uncovered about the human story in Asia. He agreed that the name Juluren may help researchers better contextualize the fossils, offering a clearer picture of their place within the human family tree.
This discovery added to the growing complexity of our evolutionary history. Discoveries in recent decades have turned the human family tree into a tangled web of interrelated branches going in every direction.