Kingdom Animalia Order Primates Tribe Hominini Scientific name Homo tsaichangensis Rank Species | Phylum Chordata Family Hominidae Genus Homo Higher classification Humans | |
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Similar Humans, Homo gautengensis, Homo cepranensis, Australopithecus deyiremeda, Great apes | ||
Penghu 1 is a fossil jaw (mandible) belonging to an extinct hominin species of the genus Homo from Taiwan that is late Pleistocene in age.
The fossil was recovered sometime before 2008 by fishermen working in the Penghu Channel – between the Penghu Islands and mainland Taiwan – and described in 2015 by an international team of Japanese, Taiwanese, and Australian scientists. Penghu 1 is estimated to be between 10,000 and 190,000 years old.
The fossil consists of a nearly complete right lower jaw with four teeth, including molars and premolars. The specimen was assigned to the genus Homo based on jaw and tooth proportions, described as most similar to Hexian fossils of Homo erectus, but the species identity or taxonomic relationships lack consensus due to limited material. Co-author Yousuke Kaifu cautioned that additional skeletal parts are needed before species evaluation, but paleontologist Mark McMenamin argued that unique dental characteristics of the jaw were sufficient to establish the new species Homo tsaichangensis. Chinese anthropologists Xinzhi Wu and Haowen Tong tentatively assigned the mandible to archaic Homo sapiens, leaving open the possibility of elevating it to a distinct species should more fossils be discovered. In a 2015 paper, Lelo Suvad accepted the validity of the new species H. tsaichangensis.
Penghu 1 is housed at the National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung.
