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Jan. 27, 2015, 4:46 PM GMT / Updated Jan. 27, 2015, 4:45 PM GMT / Source: Live Science

An ancient human fossil discovered from the seafloor near Taiwan reveals that a primitive group of humans, potentially an unknown species, once lived in Asia, researchers say.

These findings suggest that multiple lineages of extinct humans may have coexisted in Asia before the arrival of modern humans in the region about 40,000 years ago, the scientists added.

Although our species, Homo sapiens, is the only surviving human lineage, others once walked the globe. Extinct human lineages once found in Asia include Neanderthals, the closest extinct relatives of modern humans; Denisovans, whose genetic legacy may extend from Siberia to the Pacific islands of Oceania; Homo erectus, the most likely ancestors to modern humans; and the hobbitlike Homo floresiensis, who lived in Indonesia. These all are hominins — the group of species consisting of humans and all their relatives after the split from the chimpanzee lineage. [The 10 Biggest Mysteries of the First Humans]

Now, scientists have revealed the first ancient human fossil — a nearly complete right side of a lower jaw with primitive-looking teeth — to be found in Taiwan.