Peking Man

Peking Man is a subspecies of homo erectus (upright man) that lived around 600,000 years ago. The first part of a Peking Man, two teeth, were first discovered in China in 1926, followed by skull fragments, more teeth, and a lower jaw on the same site. Various bones were found there over the years, and in 1941, they were sent to the USA for safekeeping. Despite being packaged and placed on a ship, the fossils never reached their destination.

The Animal Crossing fossil represents the first identifiable Peking Man, with parts of its skull, lower jaw and some teeth showing through the soil.

Donating the Peking Man in Wild World
"Peking man is significant because he lived roughly 500,000 years ago... Hoo, well, that AND he is said to be a link between apes and humans, wot wot! What particularly fascinates me is the fact that he knew to use fire to cook. Of course, that's standard practice now, eh wot? But I assure you, it wasn't then! They say that this aided in brain development and was a remarkable breakthrough. Peking man's life span was a mere 14 years, so humans today would far outlive him. Oh! Please forgive me! The thought of this hairy ancient quite addled me!"

Donating the Peking Man in City Folk
Upon donation to the Museum, Blathers the curator will say, "Woo hoot! A spectacular find indeed! The significance of Peking Man is the fact that he lived around 500,000 years ago, eh wot? Indeed, it's thought that he could be one of the links between humans and apes. This hirsute fellow used stone tools to hunt game, and he knew how to use fire to cook. Humans did a fair bit of changing after that, of course, but you can see the beginnings of greatness!"

The Peking Man fossil can be found in the museum on the upper level, second fossil from the right (between the Archaeopteryx fossil and the Fern Fossil).