Is it possible that humans did not originate in Africa but in Asia, such as Harbin?
In the past few days, there is a heavy news in the archaeological community, and the scientific research team of Hebei University of Geosciences has published a research report on ancient humans in an academic journal. The report said that a fossil human skull found in Harbin was a new species that had never been discovered before, and was named "Dragon Man".
So what is the origin of this "old Harbin people" who are about 146,000 years old?
What's so special about it?
Will it subvert the traditional theory of evolution?
Today we will talk about this.
The human races that now live on our planet are divided into many countries and many races, all of which have different skin colors and speak different languages. But these seemingly different people, in fact, from a biological point of view, the difference is not much.
We all share a common ancestor, and there is no reproductive segregating between us.
To put it bluntly, most of the species we are familiar with in this world have very rich populations.
Humans, on the other hand, have only one.
The species mentioned here are not racial species, but biological classifications, species of the genus Of the order Phytopoda.
For example, lions and tigers belong to the cat family Leopard genus, but lions are lion species, tigers are tiger species, and the same genus is different species. So there is reproductive isolation between them.
The so-called reproductive isolation means that it is impossible to reproduce offspring, or to reproduce offspring with reproductive ability.
Therefore, lions and tigers are born of lions and tigers, just like mules, and have no independent fertility.
The same is true of horses and donkeys that give birth to mules, families and genera are the same, and the species are different.
Compare it to us humans, and you'll find out. At present, there is no reproductive isolation in this world, no matter what race you are or what color you are. This is because we are all the same in the property of "species".
Animal kingdom, chordate phylum, mammals, primates, anthropocenes, homo sapiens, Homo sapiens species.
No matter what nationality you are, what race you are, biologically classified, we are all Homo sapiens species.
And at present, in the world, under the genus of man, there is only one branch of our Homo sapiens species.
Speaking of this, do you have a question, why are other animals all racially prosperous, while we humans are thriving? Are we really the chosen ones?
Not really.
We humans, or the extended family of our human beings, used to be very prosperous, and in addition to our Homo sapiens race, there have been many different species and different subspecies of people living on the earth.
For example, Homo erectus, which we are more familiar with, belongs to the same species as us.
People like the Peking Ape Man in Beijing, the Lantian Man in Shaanxi, the Yuanmou People in Yunnan, the Wushan People in Chongqing, the Penghu People in Taiwan, and so on, all belong to the Homo erectus race. And their names are different subspecies of Homo erectus.
For example, the difference between Homo erectus and us Homo sapiens is roughly equivalent to a lion and a tiger.
The difference between the Beijing ape man, the Lantian man and the Yuanmou man is equivalent to the Siberian tiger (Siberian tiger) and the Bengal tiger.
Another example is the Flores people on the Indonesian island of Flores.
They were very short, and they were as different from us as the humans and hobbits in The Lord of the Rings.
There are even some local legends in Indonesia, which may have existed hundreds of years ago, but later clashed with humans and were exterminated. Of course, no remains or wreckage that are only a few hundred years old have been found.
Then there are the famous Neanderthals.
These Neanderthals, who belong to the same species as us, once spread throughout Europe and even coexisted with our ancestors, Homo sapiens who had just come out of Africa.
Of course, they no longer exist, and for the simple reason that they were killed by our ancestors.
However, with the discovery of anthropological research in recent years, we modern Homo sapiens have a little bit of Neanderthal genes in us. This shows that tens of thousands of years ago, we not only wanted to kill, but also loved each other.
If you have seen DreamWorks' cartoon "Crazy Primitives", you should have an impression. The male protagonist in it is us Homo sapiens, and the female protagonist's family is Neanderthals.
Moreover, Neanderthals left us some marks an hour ago.
For example, some of our immune function, and anti-ultraviolet function, may come from Neanderthals.
For example, the genes for diseases such as diabetes and depression are likely to come from Neanderthals.
Eh, at this time, a friend may have to ask, didn't you say that there is reproductive isolation in different species of the same genus? So how did this Neanderthal bodily trait get into our Homo sapiens genes?
First of all, there are neanderthal genes in humans, some say 1-4%, some say 1.8-2.6%. Anyway, there are, but not many. But have you found that if there is really an intersection, then this proportion is too low?
This illustrates two things. One is that although we are different species, we are relatively close, so we are not completely isolated. Humans and monkeys certainly wouldn't be able to do it. On the other hand, reproductive isolation does exist, and while two different species of people are able to produce offspring, this offspring will also be fertile, but may not be healthy. So in the end we only left some Neanderthal traces in our bodies, and did not produce a new human race because of the combination of the two.
Reproductive isolation is such a thing, but if there is no reproductive isolation, then the world does not know what it will be like to be strange. Seals often force penguins, if there is no reproductive isolation, what monster will come out?
The string of Jingba, Hiromi, Xishi, and Tibetan Mastiff, is his grandfather a pigeon?
In addition to Neanderthals, we are more closely related to the Denisovans. This race, first discovered in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia, also has a little bit of gene in our modern body, but much less than neanderthals.
Having said all that, I haven't said anything about the Dragon Man yet, and I'm sure someone will say I'm off topic again.
But I will not say the previous ones, directly say what the dragon people are, I believe many people do not understand it.
Let's go on with the train of thought we just had.
The dragon man discovered in Harbin this time is closer to our modern Homo sapiens.
Or rather, it is currently discovered that of all the ancient humans of the non-Homo sapiens race, we are closestly related.
It is even possible that this dragon man is another independent evolution of the other races mentioned above, such as Neanderthals and Denisovans. And the relationship is still closer to us than they are all.
That is to say, before the appearance of the Dragons, we usually say that Neanderthals and we are the closest, after all, we also have some of their blood in our bodies. But after the appearance of the dragon people, it may be necessary to say another way to talk about the ancient humans who are closest to us.
But does this prove that human beings did not originate in Africa, but in Asia?
Actually, not really. As things stand, the Dragons may also have come from Africa, but earlier than our Homo sapiens ancestors.
Finally, let's talk about the origin of this fossil skull. In fact, it is quite legendary.
In early 1932, about half a year after the September 18 Incident, the Japanese occupied Harbin.
In order to better facilitate the rule and steal resources, the Japanese army immediately began to build a road and railway dual-purpose bridge across the Songhua River after occupying Harbin, which is the Dongjiang Bridge in Harbin.
While building the bridge, a laborer found a skull at the pier. I don't know how the courage is so big, but I went directly to my home. When the old man in the family saw it, he thought it might be a treasure, so he hid it.
Until a few years ago, the scholar who wrote the dragon article saw the fossil skull in an antique market in Guangxi and persuaded the holder to donate it to a scientific research institution.
And this head is the dragon man.
Speaking of September 18, it evokes the tragic memories of our nation.
Especially as a northeasterner, there is a different taste.
Soon it will be the centenary of our party, and I will take this opportunity to produce a series on the Northeast Anti-Japanese League.
While remembering those revolutionary predecessors, we also want more people to know that in the fourteen years that the northeast has lost its land, the people of the northeast have never given up the struggle. Those stories that can be sung and wept, those who are generous and sad, should and must be remembered.