31 Jan Mysterious Ancient Jaw Bone Found
From deep in the depths of the Penghu Channel in Taiwan a fisherman stumbled upon an unexpected catch, a lower jawbone with unusually large premolars and molars. The primitive structure has lead scientists to believe it belonged to a long extinct member of our genus Homo, most similarly resembling that of Homo erectus. (See the photo here.) This thesis is based on it’s resemblance to a partial skull of H. erectus found in Longtan Cave on the mainland of China.
It is thought that this human was alive in the past 400,000, and perhaps even 200,000, years. It is even possible that this jaw could have even belonged to the mysterious Denisovan people, a relative of the Neandertal, of which very little is known. It is believed many types of humans were still alive at this time and region.
If you are looking over this ancient jawbone and it’s bearing a disturbingly close resemblance to your own teeth and jaw, we think it might be time for you to set up an appointment with us at Prescott Dentistry! Check out our dental care services here, and contact us for more information.
Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (1/31/2015) Luke Ma (Flickr)