'Dragon man' sheds light on evolution

Skull found in Harbin belongs to newly discovered species with same ancestor

The world has taken a critical step toward figuring out the origin and evolution of Homo sapiens, the species all living humans belong to, with Chinese researchers announcing the discovery of a new species of ancient human they have dubbed "dragon man".

More closely related to modern humans than Neanderthals, the species researchers officially named Homo longi sp nov may lead to a rethinking of human evolution.

The announcement was made based on the results of research on a skull that is at least 138,000 years old. It was reportedly unearthed in 1933 when a bridge was built over the Songhua River in Harbin, Heilongjiang province. The city was under Japanese occupation at the time, and the man who found the skull concealed it at the bottom of an abandoned well for safekeeping.