The evolutionary theory and specifically the question of how humans came to exist, is a topic that has been causing debate for centuries.
Over the course of time, there have been many scientists who have researched this topic and come up with different theories on this matter.
There are also people who believe science to be wrong, that our planet and the people inhabiting it are made by God and that the Big Bang Theory and us having evolved from apes, as a lot of scientists believe, is totally false.
Now, a skull which has been found in China is shaking up the so far existing evolutionary theories yet again and causing debates and disagreements amongst scientists.
A study of the human skull, which is believed to be a million years old, suggests that our species, Homo sapiens, began to emerge at the very least half a million years earlier than originally thought.
Moreover, this discovery indicates that we have, or rather the species has co-existed with other species like the Neanderthals earlier than originally assumed.
The scientists involved in this study, which includes researchers from the UK’s National History Museum and a university in China, say that what they have found changes the understanding that they had so far about evolutionary theory and that this would “rewrite” one of the earliest chapters of human history.
The co-leader of the analysis, Prof Xijun Ni of Fudan University, said: “From the very beginning, when we got the result, we thought it was unbelievable.”
“How could that be so deep into the past? But we tested it again and again to test all the models, use all the methods, and we are now confident about the result, and we’re actually very excited.”
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The theory and background in more detail
When the skull, named Yunxian 2, was first discovered, scientists thought it belonged to a Human erectus, which was the first large-brained species of humans and an ancestor of Homo sapiens.
They believed this to be true, given the age of the skull and the fact that the evolution of Homo erectus and its divergence into the Neanderthal and Homo sapiens began around 600.000 years ago.
Since the skull is older than that, they assumed it belonged to a species dating prior to that.
However, further studies lead researchers to believe it isn’t a Homo erectus, but a Homo longi, which is a sister species of the Neanderthal and Homo sapiens with similar levels of development to them.
Moreover, genetic evidence suggests that it existed alongside them, which means that if Yunxian 2 lived about a million years ago, it is very likely that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens did too.
According to Prof Christ Stringer, who is also a co-lead on the research stated that this discovery totally shifts the timeline of the evolution of large-brained humans and believes that it is likely that there are many fossils of Homo sapiens out there which have not yet been discovered.
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Doubts in the theory
However, not all experts are as enthusiastic about this finding, stating that this theory is believable and makes sense. However, it is far from certain and proven.
There are two methods to find out the age of a skull, one being genetic data and the other being the shape of the skull.
According to Dr Aylwyn Scally, an evolutionary geneticist at Cambridge University, both methods are considered uncertain.
He stated: “One has to be particularly tentative about the timing estimates, because those are very difficult to do, regardless of what evidence you’re looking at, be that genetic or fossil evidence.”
“Even with the largest amount of genetic data, it is very difficult to place a time when these populations may have co-existed to within 100,000 years, or even more.”
He also added that even though the research and its theory were possible, it is far from proven and would require a lot more data and proof in order to do so.
“That picture is still quite unclear to us, so if the conclusions of this research are supported by other analyses, ideally from some genetic data, then I think we would start to be increasingly confident about it,” he said.
Even though the researchers’ theory is not yet fully proven and convincing to all scientists out there, it certainly is very interesting.
It’s very likely to be studied further, so that we hopefully soon know exactly where we came from and how long our species has been walking the face of the earth.
Angelica N. Hall 
Shameeka Voyiya 
Carmela Calling