'Dragon Man' Skull Unearthed in China Confirms First Glimpse and Existence of Denisovan Individual

For over a decade, the Denisovans were anthropology's most mysterious cousins — a ghost line whose existence was known almost solely from ancient DNA, a child's pinky bone, and a rumor of genes that still float through human populations. That's all now changed.

In two mind-blowing new papers out in Science and Cell, researchers have established that the giant skull excavated in Harbin, China — which has been popularly known as "Dragon Man" and was originally dubbed Homo longi — belonged to a Denisovan. Due to a few recalcitrant specks of fossilized dental plaque, scientists can now at last declare: this is what a Denisovan was like!

A Skull in a Well: Where it All Began

Dragon Man's tale started not in a dig or a cave, but in an abandoned well in China. In 1933, a foundation digger in Harbin City discovered a human-like skull that was extremely well preserved. Fearing the authorities would take it from him, he concealed it. It was not until 2018, toward the end of his life, that he came clean to his family, and they retrieved and donated the skull.

The Harbin cranium and geographic location of hominin specimens older than 100 ka where human DNA has been retrieved. (Fu et al./Cell, 2025)

The skull was gigantic — prominent brow ridges, flat face, wide nose, no chin, and brain volume larger than for most contemporary humans. In 2021, Chinese researchers reported the skull to be a new species, Homo longi ("Dragon Man"), due to its strange appearance and estimated age of at least 146,000 years.

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But others weren’t so sure. Qiaomei Fu, a geneticist at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, suspected it might belong to the elusive Denisovans. After all, the features, age, and location all aligned — but confirmation required something more definitive: molecules.

Fu had previously contributed to the discovery of the first Denisovan from a pinkie bone discovered in Siberia's Denisova Cave in 2010. DNA since then had shown that Neanderthals and modern humans interbred with Denisovans, leaving behind up to 5% of their genetic heritage in individuals from Melanesia and certain regions of Southeast Asia. But no definitive Denisovan skull had ever been discovered — until now.

“After 15 years, we give the Denisovan a face,” she told National Geographic. “It’s really a special feeling, I feel really happy.” 

Digitally reconstructed face of the ‘Dragon Man’. (Nobu Tamura/CC BY-SA 3.0)

Early attempts to get DNA from Dragon Man's dense bones and molars didn't work. The expected sites were a bust. But with a last throw of the dice, Fu's group went back to an unglamorous source: a minuscule speck of calcified dental plaque. In just 0.3 milligrams of that crusty residue, they hit gold — not just mitochondrial DNA (which is passed down from mother to child), but also sufficient Denisovan-specific gene variants to authenticate the Harbin skull.

Simultaneously, they examined ancient proteins of the inner ear region of the skull — and they were equally enlightening. The proteomic information was consistent with other known Denisovan remains, a Tibetan Plateau jaw and teeth from Denisova Cave. Combined, the DNA and protein tests left very little doubt: Dragon Man was Denisovan.

A Denisovan At Last: Putting a Face to It

"This is the first detailed morphological blueprint for Denisovan populations," the researchers wrote.

What is that face though?

Massive. Broad. Rugged. The Harbin man — probably male — had heavy brow ridges, wide eye sockets, flat cheeks, and a very large brain. Previous hints from Denisovan molars and jawbones suggested their bulk, but Harbin confirms it: they were giants of the human family, maybe built for Siberian cold and mountainous regions such as Tibet.

"The Denisovans could very well be the true 'big boys' of human history," speculated paleoanthropologist Samantha Brown, in an interview with New Scientist. Even Neanderthals, our long-reputed burly cousins, might be matched by them.

Despite all the hoopla, the naming of the Harbin skull is problematic. In 2021, the researchers who originally described it suggested a new species name — Homo longi. But as more molecular evidence accumulates and supports its Denisovan status, should its name be revised?

Paleoanthropologists are divided. Chris Stringer, at the Natural History Museum in London, is in favor of applying Homo longi to the wider Denisovan group, in an interview with The New York Times. Other scientists, such as Svante Pääbo — the Nobel-prize-winning paleogeneticist who first sequenced a Denisovan genome — say species designations for such close human relatives are not needed considering their interbreeding with both Neanderthals and modern humans.

A New Chapter in Denisovan Discovery

This discovery also reorients what we thought we knew about human evolution in East Asia. For decades, Denisovans were spoken for by scraps — a finger bone, a molar, a jaw fragment. Now scientists have a complete skull to lead the way. It offers a standard for rethinking other dubious fossils in China, Southeast Asia, and Oceania.

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Already, fresh Denisovan fossils are being discovered — such as a jaw from the Penghu Channel in Taiwan and bone sediments in the Baishiya Karst cave in Tibet. With Harbin to serve as an example, the floodgates could open for further discoveries.

The position sampled for the 0.3 mg of dental calculus on the Harbin tooth, where mtDNA was captured and sequenced. (Fu et al./Cell, 2025)

It also opens the door to new investigations into how Denisovans lived, moved, and adapted across their vast range. "Having a well-preserved skull like this one allows us to compare the Denisovans to many more different specimens found in very different places,” Bence Viola, an archaeologist not involved with the study, told New Scientist. “We can finally think about their adaptations to climate, mobility, and even social behavior.”

For Qiaomei Fu, it's a moment of coming full circle. From a fragment of pinkie to a whole skull, her life has been intertwined with this mystery lineage. Thanks to one tooth, one skull, and one persistent scientist — they at long last have a face!

Top image: The Harbin cranium, several angles.                                           Source: Ni, et al/Cell, 2021.

By Sahir