Yuanmou Man
Early Homo erectus subspecies from southwestern China.
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Yuanmou Man (Homo erectus yuanmouensis) is a subspecies of Homo erectus known from remains discovered in the Yuanmou Basin of Yunnan Province, southwestern China, and dated to approximately 1.7 million years ago, making it one of the earliest human fossils found in China. The known material consists of two upper first incisors, believed to be from a young male, and a partial tibia shaft, attributed to a young female. Based on the tibia, the female’s living stature has been estimated between 123.6 and 130.4 cm. Anatomically, these remains closely resemble those of contemporary early African Homo, such as Homo habilis and Homo ergaster.
Discovery
The fossils were first recovered on May 1, 1965, by geologist Qian Fang, whose team was funded by the Chinese Academy of Geosciences. The incisors were formally described in 1973 by palaeoanthropologist Hu Chengzhi, who designated them as a new subspecies distinct from the later Peking Man. Further excavation by the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology yielded 16 stone tools, six found in situ and ten nearby.
In December 1984, a field team from the Beijing Natural History Museum, working 250 meters from the original site, unearthed the left tibial shaft, described in 1991. The Yuanmou Basin sits at an elevation of 1,050–1,150 meters, southeast of the Tibetan Plateau. The human remains were found in Member 4 of the Yuanmou Formation, near the bottom of layer 25, within silty clay and sandy conglomerates.
Age
The age of the Yuanmou Man has been debated. Initial palaeomagnetic dating in 1976 placed the incisors in the Gilsa geomagnetic event at about 1.7 million years ago. Later studies using palaeomagnetism, electron spin resonance, and protein dating produced a range of estimates from 1.64 million to as young as 0.5 million years ago.
A 2008 palaeomagnetic study reaffirmed the 1.7-million-year date, attributing younger estimates to insufficient sample sizes. The tibia, likely from layers 25–28, dates to 1.7–1.4 million years ago. This age makes Yuanmou Man roughly contemporaneous with the oldest human fossils in Southeast Asia and part of a major H. erectus expansion across Asia.
Scientific classification
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumChordata
- InfraclassPlacentalia
- OrderPrimates
- SuperfamilyHominoidea
- Family
- GenusHomo
- SpeciesHomo erectus
Named by Hu et al., 1973
Close relatives
Other species of Homo with a Codexery entry.
- Homo erectus Homo erectus
- Homo ergaster Homo ergaster
- Homo neanderthalensis
- Homo longi
- Homo antecessor
- Homo floresiensis
- Homo habilis
- Homo heidelbergensis
Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Yuanmou Man (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where the yuanmou man has been recorded
24 inland records left out (institution coordinates).
Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: Natural Earth basemap (public domain) · place coordinates: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Quick Facts
- Genus
- Homo
- Species
- erectus
- Subspecies
- yuanmouensis
Facts from the source article.
Background
On May 1, 1965, geologist Qian Fang recovered two archaic human upper first incisors (catalogue number V1519) from fossiliferous deposits of the Yuanmou Basin near Shangnabang village, Yuanmou County, Yunnan Province, China. When they were formally described in 1973, they were determined to have belonged to a young male. Qian's field team was funded by the Chinese Academy of Geosciences.
The Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology funded further excavation of the site, and reported 16 stone tools, of which six were found in situ and 10 nearby. In December 1984, a field team dispatched by the Beijing Natural History Museum to survey the Guojiabao site, just 250 m away from the original Yuanmou Man teeth, unearthed a left human tibial shaft in a layer just overlying layer 25 in Member 4. The tibia was described in 1991, and was determined to belong to a young female H. e. yuanmouensis.
Yuanmou Man inhabited a mixed environment featuring grassland, bushland, marshland, and forest dominated by pine and alder. They lived alongside chalicotheres, deer, the elephant Stegodon, rhinoceros, cattle, pigs, and the giant short-faced hyaena. They manufactured simple cores, flakes, choppers, pointed tools, and scrapers which paralleled the technology of their African contemporaries.
Frequently Asked Questions
What fossils make up Yuanmou Man?
The entire known remains consist of just two upper first incisors attributed to a male individual and a partial lower leg bone (tibia) attributed to a female. The teeth were uncovered in 1965, while the tibia was recovered two decades later in 1984.
How tall was Yuanmou Man?
Based on the partial tibia, the female individual is estimated to have stood roughly 123.6 to 130.4 centimetres tall in life. No comparable height estimate exists for the male, since only his two incisors were found.
How does Yuanmou Man compare to other early Homo species?
Its dental and postcranial anatomy closely mirrors that of contemporaneous early Homo in Africa, particularly Homo habilis and Homo ergaster. This similarity has led researchers to classify it as a subspecies of H. erectus rather than a wholly separate lineage.
More in Prehistoric Beasts
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Yuanmou Man (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Occurrence records: GBIF (CC0 / CC BY). Basemap: Natural Earth (public domain).
- Word definitions: the , each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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