Could the Chinese "Dragon Man" Skull Be a Denisovan? Shedding New Light on the Mystery of Ancient Humans!

1. The Drama of Discovery and the Birth of "Dragon Man"

• In 1933, during the era of Manchukuo, workers unearthed a massive skull while constructing a bridge.

• To avoid the Japanese military and the Nationalist government, it was hidden in a well and later donated to researchers by the family in 2018.

• In 2021, a team from Hebei GEO University in China named it Homo longi (derived from Longjiang = Heilongjiang). It is characterized by a low elongated skull, developed brow ridges, and a brain capacity of 1420 cc.en.wikipedia.org

2. Latest Research: DNA and Proteome Reveal the "Identity"

• On June 18, 2025, an international team extracted mtDNA and proteins from dental plaque and ear bones.

• It matched the genome from the Denisova Cave in Siberia, identifying it as the "Far East Early Denisovan lineage."livescience.com

• The first skull specimen of Denisovans, whose "facial photo" was previously unknown, has emerged.

3. Three Shocks that Redraw the Timeline of Human Evolution

1. Geographic Shock: Denisovans, previously found on the Tibetan Plateau, Laos, and Taiwan, were also distributed in Harbin at 46°N latitude.

2. Temporal Shock: A large-brained fossil from 146,000 years ago, almost contemporary with modern humans.

3. Re-evaluation of Interbreeding: The "muddle in the middle" of the Middle Pleistocene becomes even more complex.

4. Japanese Social Media Buzzes! Summary of Reactions

*X (formerly Twitter) Real-Time Search (6/19 10:00JST, Author's Compilation) Classification.

5. Will the Species Name "Homo longi" Remain?

• Dr. Chris Stringer: "The Most Complete Denisovan Fossil, but H. longi as a Species Name is Appropriate" livescience.com

• According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, it is valid if "morphology, era, and geography" are sufficiently differentiated.

• Future comparisons with similar materials from Taiwan, Yunyang, and Gansu Xiahe are key.

6. The "Dragon's Claw Marks" Remaining in East Asian Genes

• The Tibetan high-altitude adaptation gene EPAS1 and immune-related genes in Southeast Asian islands are Denisovan-derived.

• GTEx database analysis suggests an influence of about 0.2-0.5% in Japanese people.

7. Archaeology, Paleoclimatology, AI Facial Reconstruction—The Next Research Frontier

1. Generalization of Protein Dating : Applicable to tropical fossils where DNA does not remain.

2. Multimodal AI Facial Reconstruction : Reconstructing life history from skull 3D, genome, and dental plaque microbiome.

3. Paleoclimate Modeling : Simulating the environment where three Homo species coexisted in Northeast Asia on the eve of the last glacial period.

8. Conclusion: Will the Dragon Unchain Human History?

• The Harbin Skull is the First Complete Specimen with a "Denisovan Face."

• Fossils from Asia are shaking the Western-dominated phylogenetic tree, reigniting the regional origin theory.

• Hints to the universal question "Where did we come from?" have once again arrived from the East.