Scientists discovered a new kind of human with its pinkie bone. Now we have a skull.
HISTORY & CULTURE Finally, we can put a face on a Denisovan. The "Dragon Man" skull was discovered in Harbin, China in 1933 by a local laborer, but remained hidden away until 2018. A new analysis now finds its very likely to be a Denisovan. Photograph by Xijun Ni By Tim Vernimmen June 18, 2025 In the summer of 2021, a team of five Chinese researchers stirred up some controversy by suggesting that an unusual skull unearthed in northeastern China belonged to a previously unknown species they thereby officially described as Homo longi , nicknamed “Dragon Man.” (Both names were inspired by the Long Jiang Dragon River region where it was found.) Soon afterwards, the team was contacted by paleogeneticist Qiaomei Fu of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, who asked if she could try and get DNA from the skull. Back in 2010, she’d been the first to investigate the DNA from a tiny finger bone fo...
