An article published in the journal “Science” reports the results of a study of the fossil skull cataloged as Yunxian 2, which attributes it to the species Homo longi. A team of researchers examined a reproduction of this skull made after performing a CT scan, an operation that was needed to try to restore it to its original shape because the fossil is crushed.

The result was compared with 100 other hominin specimens, revealing a combination of traits, some close to those of Homo erectus and others much more similar to those of Homo sapiens and the species called Homo longi. In the end, the researchers concluded that this skull belongs to an early Homo longi.

Two articles, one published in the journal “Cell” and one in the journal “Science”, describe two exams conducted on the so-called Harbin Cranium, a fossil discovered in Manchuria, northeastern China, dated at least 146,000 years old. A team of researchers led by paleogeneticist Qiaomei Fu of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing and Qiang Ji of Hebei University recovered fragments of mitochondrial DNA from the dental calculus still present on the skull and proteins.

An article published in the journal “Science” reports the attribution of a fossil mandible discovered in Taiwan to a Denisovan. A team of researchers conducted an analysis of amino acids still present in the mandible and in the enamel of the teeth still present, detecting two variants that were part of proteins specific to the Denisovan species. These are variants still present in some Asian populations that inherited genes from Denisovans. This discovery expands the area in which traces of this ancient human species have been found, a species that in some ways is still mysterious.

An article published in the journal “Nature Communications” reports the results of the study of the inner ear of Neanderthals that suggests that at a certain point in their history there was a genetic bottleneck that may have contributed to their extinction. A team of researchers examined the semicircular canals, structures whose development is strongly determined by genes, to assess the history of Neanderthals. According to the conclusions, the morphological diversity of these anatomical structures shows a decline about 110,000 years ago.

This is not the only recent research that suggests a genetic stagnation of Neanderthals because a few weeks ago, an article was published in the journal “Scientific Reports” that focuses on the blood groups of Homo sapiens, Denisovans, and Neanderthals. Genetic analysis shows that Neanderthals had a blood type that’s very rare in Homo sapiens with very limited variability over about 80,000 years. This may have made them vulnerable to various health problems.