Michael Button
@michaelbutton1·219K subscribers·112 videos
We Just Found Something Shocking in China
Posted
March 17, 2026
Views
219,573
Likes
6,532
Comments
916
Engagement
3.39%
March 17, 2026
219,573
6,532
916
3.39%
Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
15:15Now PlayingI share the deeper ideas I can’t fully explore on YouTube in my private email briefing. You can join for free here: 👇
A million-year-old human skull found in China suggests that our species, Homo sapiens, began to emerge at least half a million years earlier than we thought.
At least, that's what researchers are claiming in a new study.
The scientists claim their analysis "totally changes" our understanding of human evolution and, if correct, it would certainly rewrite a key early chapter in our history. It also shows that we co-existed with other sister species, including Neanderthals, for much longer than we've come to believe, they say.
The new analysis of Yunxian 2, which has been reviewed by experts independent of the research team, suggests that it is not Homo erectus.
It is now thought to be an early version of Homo longi, a sister species at similar levels of development to Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.
Genetic evidence suggests it existed alongside them, so if Yunxian 2 walked the Earth a million years ago, say the scientists, early versions of Neanderthal and our own species probably did too.
This startling analysis has dramatically shifted the timeline of the evolution of large-brained humans back by at least half a million years, according to Prof Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum, a co-lead on the research.
He said there are likely to be million year-old fossils of Homo sapiens somewhere on our planet - we just haven't found them yet.
Join me for a chat in my Discord server! 👉
Let me know what you think in the comments, and thank you for watching!!
Follow me on X
Follow me on Instagram
Big thank you to our Top Tier Supporters!
- Matthew
- JRayZimmer
Sources:
If you enjoyed this video, please consider subscribing to my channel!
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.
