Human history may need to be rewritten after researchers discovered a million-year-old human skull in China.
The groundbreaking discovery indicates that modern humans may have split from an unknown species 400,000 years earlier than scientists initially thought.
The find has moved researchers to suggest that early humans may have originated out of Asia, disproving the long-standing theory that homo sapiens first emerged from Africa.
The team of scientists behind the study say they are now confident in the validity of their findings, despite first thinking it to be "unbelievable".
After using reconstruction technology, researchers believe the ancient skull belonged to a Homo longi
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After using reconstruction technology, researchers believe the ancient skull, dubbed Yunxian 2, belonged to a Homo longi, also referred to as "Dragon Man", a type of archaic humanoid which lived among early modern humans.
It has been long-believed that homo sapiens first emerged around 600,000 years ago.
However, if the skull is a million-year-old Homo longi, it would prove that ancient humans “were already splitting from one another more than a million years ago”, Natural History Museum researchers have said.
The scientists have suggested this may “paint a radically different picture of human evolution”.
If the skull is a million-year-old Homo longi, it would prove that ancient humans were already splitting from one another
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One of the researchers for the ground-breaking study, Professor Chris Stringer said: “Our research reveals that Yunxian 2 is not Homo erectus, but an early member of the longi clade and linked to the Denisovans.
"This changes a lot of thinking because it suggests that by one million years ago, our ancestors had already split into distinct groups, pointing to a much earlier and more complex human evolutionary split than previously believed.”
Researchers noted that it would indicate “there must be earlier members of the heidelbergensis, neanderthal, sapiens and longi lineages waiting to be either recognised or discovered".
"Homo sapiens could have begun to emerge over one million years ago, pushing back our species’ origins by some 400,000 years compared with genetic estimates," they added.
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The ancient skull boasts a mixture of primitive and modern features, with a substantial brain compartment and jutted-out lower face.
According to the study, the existence of a larger brain capacity indicates it may be closer related to homo sapiens and homo longi.
Prof Stringer has said the find may help scientists declutter the "muddle in the middle" issue where fossils between one million and 300,000 years old paint a perplexing picture of when human species began to split.
The study has been published in the journal Science.
The first species ever to evolve a human-like body was the Homo erectus
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Shanxi University's Professor Xiaobo Feng said: “We decided to study this fossil again because it has reliable geological dating and is one of the few million-year-old human fossils.
“A fossil of this age is critical for rebuilding our family tree.”
The first species ever to evolve a human-like body was the Homo erectus.
The extinct species is believed to have walked the earth for around 2 million years - and was the first humanoid to be able to wield fire.
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