Lantian Man (), formerly
Sinanthropus lantianensis (currently
Homo erectus lantianensis) is a subspecies of
Homo erectus. Its discovery in 1963 was first described by J. K. Woo the following year.
Remnants of Lantian Man (called Lantian Ren; 蓝田人 in Chinese) were found in
Lantian County (蓝田县; pinyin: Lántián Xiàn), in
China's
northwestern Shaanxi province, approximately 50 km southeast of the city of
Xi'an. Shortly after the discovery of the
mandible (jaw bone) of the first Lantian Man at
Chenjiawo (陈家窝), also in Lantian County, a
cranium (skull) with nasal bones, right maxilla, and three teeth of another specimen of Lantian Man were found at
Gongwangling (公王岭), another site in Lantian County.
The cranial capacity is estimated to be , somewhat similar to that of its contemporary,
Java Man.
Lantian Man is older than the better-known
Peking Man, but possibly younger than
Yuanmou Man, who according to some estimates may have lived about 1.7 million years ago in modern-day China.
These fossils are believed to come from two females who lived about 530,000 to 1 million years ago, the second being the older one by about 400,000 years. Gongwangling Man represents the oldest fossil of an erect human ever found in northern Asia. Scientists classify Lantian Man as a
subspecies of
Homo erectus. The fossils are displayed at the
Shaanxi History Museum,
Xi'an, China.
In the same strata as and close to the Lantian Man fossils, animal
fossils and stone
artifact were...
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