Prehistoric teeth found in China may point to mysterious new human species

The more research that is done into the prehistoric origins of humans, the more crowded it gets.

According to a new study, there may well have been multiple species of primitive humans between 60,000 and 120,000 years ago – including a mysterious people who do not fall under the categories of either Neanderthals, Denisovans, or modern humans.

Skull fragments and teeth discovered in 1976 in a cave in Xujiayoa, China are raising surprising questions about the prehistoric origins of humanity. Dental remains were recovered from four different individuals, and were examined for size, shape and surface of the teeth, as well as other defining characteristics. When the teeth were compared to a database of over 5,000 teeth of known species, María Martinón-Torres of the National Research Centre on Human Evolution found that they did not match any of the accepted hominids.