Prof Qiang Ji, claims the skull is perhaps the most complete early human skull discovered.
“It has a mosaic combination of primitive and (more modern features), setting itself apart from all the other species of human,” the researcher explained.
“We found our long-lost sister lineage,” said Xijun Ni, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Hebei GEO University in Shijiazhuang.
The research team believes the skull represents an evolution of the human species.
“The results will spark a lot of debate and I am quite sure that a lot of people will disagree with us,” Prof Ni said.
“But that is science and it is because we disagree that science progresses.
