A fossilized, partial thigh bone found in a cave in China in 1989 is believed to represent a group of species that walked on Earth longer than previously suspected. The bone is only 14,000 years old, which makes its existence overlap with modern humans.

The discovery and research was performed by the team of The University of New South Wales' Associate Professor Darren Curnoe and Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology's Professor Ji Xueping, according to American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Despite being unearthed 26 years ago in China's Red Deer Cave, locally known as the Maludong Cave, the fossils that were discovered with it were only studied in 2012. The study revealed that the femur may have belonged to an older species existing over 1.5 million years ago, similar to Homo habilis and Homo erectus, according to the Public Library of Science (PLOS ONE).

"Its young age suggests the possibility that primitive-looking humans could have survived until very late in our evolution, but we need to careful as it is just one bone," co-author Ji said, according to AFP.

"The new find hints at the possibility a pre-modern species may have overlapped in time with modern humans on mainland East Asia, but the case needs to be built up slowly with more bone discoveries," fellow co-author Curnoe said.

However, this discovery is faced with skepticism. Natural History Museum's Chris Stringer of South Kensington does not fully agree with the idea yet.

"It is an isolated bone. It is not even half a femur," Stringer said, according to The Guardian. "I am cautious. What we need more than anything is more complete material."

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