Is “Dragon Man” What Our Denisovan Relatives Looked Like?

In 2021, we reported on “Dragon Man,” a skull discovered in China that was considered to be a new human species, Homo longi. This skull, also called the Harbin skull, is believed by evolutionists to be around 146,000 years old and shows a mix of features from various human “species,” including modern man. But a new genetic study of mitochondrial DNA (female-inherited DNA) meticulously retrieved from tooth tartar “confirmed the specimen as Denisovan,” chopping a branch off the evolutionary tree (yet another rewrite for human evolution!).

So what did these people look like? Well, the skull shows “thick brow ridges, a roomy braincase, and cheeks that fall between Neanderthal ruggedness and modern delicacy [and] . . . Denisovan teeth are famously big, and Dragon Man fits the trend.”

Based on the size of the skull, one scientist “estimates a lean body mass near 220 pounds and calls these hominins ‘enormous individuals.’” And they believe this large body size—and the 4,000 calories a day needed to sustain a body that size—likely influenced their societal behaviors:

A high caloric demand would force groups to patrol large territories, which might explain why Denisovan DNA is sprinkled across Asia yet their fossils remain scarce.

Recent isotopic work on the Xiahe jaw [a lower jaw found on the Tibetan Plateau] hints at a meat heavy diet, supporting the idea of large, cold adapted hunters roaming upland steppes.

Large bodies paired with cold winters could push clans toward seasonal migrations following herds of deer and horse.

Now you may have noticed that nothing in observational science—and even these inferences drawn from the data (other than the dates)—contradicts the Bible’s history for mankind. Just like neanderthals (who had children with Denisovans, according to genetic studies), these people were fully human, descendants of Adam and Eve, just like us. Yes, there are minor variations, but we expect that—there’s genetic variation throughout God’s creation. It’s all part of the genetic diversity in the human kind.

Just like neanderthals (who had children with Denisovans, according to genetic studies), these people were fully human, descendants of Adam and Eve, just like us.

These people aren’t some mysterious human ancestor or cousin or failed branch of the evolutionary tree. They were human beings (ordinary people like us), made in God’s image, who lived after the dispersion at Babel in areas that were hit hard by the ice age, making finding food and shelter a full-time job. For some reason, like neanderthals, they eventually died out, but some of their unique variations live on in the DNA of modern people groups, including in the Tibetan highlanders, Papuans, and other Melanesians.

You can learn more in AiG’s Troy Lacey’s 2021 article.

Get More Answers on Answers News

This item was discussed Monday on Answers News with cohosts Bryan Osborne, Dr. Tim Chaffey, and Avery Foley. Answers News is our weekly news program filmed live before a studio audience here at the Creation Museum, broadcast on our Answers in Genesis YouTube channel, and posted to Answers TV. We also covered the following topics:

• Are humans evolving into an “astonishing life-form”?
• Christian’s “faith” caused her to support an assisted dying bill.
• Public schools are teaching Eastern mysticism.
• And more!

Be sure to join us each Monday at 2 p.m. (ET) on YouTube or later that day on Answers TV for Answers News. After July 7, Answers News will be on a brief hiatus before returning as a new show with a new format. We’re thrilled that our new social media filming studio will allow us to make some changes to the show.

Stay tuned for more details!

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.