Yunxian 2, found in China in 1992, got a digital makeover in a 2025 Science study. CT scans and virtual reconstruction put its endocranial volume at about 1,050 cm³—large for a roughly 1-million-year-old skull, though below the modern-human average. The researchers place it in a Homo longi-related lineage sister to Denisovans. If that assignment is correct, the study argues that the Homo sapiens–Denisovan split could be roughly 500,000 years earlier than commonly proposed. Chris Stringer said older Homo sapiens fossils may exist but have not yet been found.
Yunxian skull study: Homo sapiens–Denisovan split could be 500,000 years earlier
ChinaBioarchaeologySignificant Find
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Key facts
- Yunxian (Meipu) 2 was discovered in China in 1992, not 1990, and was heavily crushed and distorted.
- A 2025 Science study used CT data and virtual reconstruction to restore and compare the cranium.
- The specimen lived roughly 1 million years ago and had a reconstructed endocranial volume of about 1,050 cm³—large for its age and within the broad modern-human range, but below the modern-human average.
- Researchers assigned Yunxian 2 to a Homo longi-related lineage interpreted as sister to Denisovans.
- The study suggests that, if this age and phylogenetic assignment are correct, the Homo sapiens–Denisovan divergence could be roughly 500,000 years earlier than commonly proposed; it does not establish a revised date directly.
- Chris Stringer, a paleoanthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London, said that older Homo sapiens fossils may exist but have not yet been found.
Sources
1 million-year-old Yunxian skull redefines human evolution and ...archaeologymag.com
Digital reconstruction of the Yunxian 2 skull reshapes human evolution timelines in Asia and Denisovan origins.
Million-year-old Skull from Central China Rewrites Human Evolution ...english.cas.cn
Discovered in Yunxian County, Hubei Province, in 1990, the "Yunxian 2" skull was crushed during the fossilization process, making detailed ...
Million-year-old skull could rewrite timeline of human origin ...abcnews.com
Digital reconstruction of a crushed skull from an ancient human relative could rewrite the timeline of human evolution, researchers said.
Million-year-old skull rewrites human evolution, say scientists - BBCbbc.com
When scientists found the skull, named Yunxian 2, they assumed it belonged to an earlier ancestor of ours, Homo erectus, the first large-brained ...
A Skull from China Rewrites the Story of Our Genus - Anthropology.netanthropology.net
The team led by Xiaobo Feng and Xijun Ni digitally “uncrumpled” the distorted Yunxian 2 cranium using high-resolution CT scans. This ...
The phylogenetic position of the Yunxian cranium ...science.org
by X Feng · 2025 · Cited by 37 — In this study, we restored and reconstructed the distorted Yunxian 2 cranium using recently introduced technology. consisted mainly of small ...
Yunxian 2 cranium changes human evolution tale (again)creation.com
The Yunxian 2 reconstruction, incorporating elements from Yunxian 1, was said to display “mosaic primitive and derived features”. The 'primitive ...
The problem skulls from Yunxianjohnhawks.net
Instead, using virtual anthropology methods, they reconstructed the previously-known Yunxian 2 skull and compared it with other hominins.
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