Ancient Southern African DNA Reveals Long-Isolated Human Lineage
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – A newly analyzed genetic record from ancient individuals discovered in southern Africa is rewriting the story of human population dynamics, revealing a surprisingly large and long-isolated group that existed for over 200,000 years. the findings, published in Nature (2025, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09811-4), suggest this population diverged from other modern human lineages around the time Homo sapiens first emerged, yet remained largely separate until relatively recently.
While the genetic makeup of this ancient group shares commonalities with other populations of the time - including brown eyes,high skin pigmentation,and a lack of lactose tolerance – the extent of their genetic distinctiveness is remarkable. Researchers found the collective genetic variants fall outside the range of previously described human diversity, despite present-day southern African hunter-gatherer populations largely descending from southern African ancestors.
Population size estimates, based on the observed genetic variation, indicate this wasn’t a small, isolated band, but a ample group. The researchers hypothesize that geographic and climatic factors,potentially with southern Africa acting as a climate refuge,maintained this separation. Evidence supporting this comes from the detection of southern African genetic variants in ancient populations from eastern and western Africa dating back approximately 5,000 years ago,suggesting a later period of gene flow.
interestingly, the genetic traits observed don’t point to a especially “modern” or advanced group. Like other populations of the era, they lacked genetic resistance to diseases like malaria and sleeping sickness. However, the study did reveal significant variation in genes related to kidney function, a less common pattern. Genes involved in immune function also showed common variations, mirroring patterns seen in other ancient human populations.
The finding presents a puzzle for researchers, given the known history of intermingling between human groups. “Its presence is a bit of an enigma, given how frequently enough other populations intermingled in our past,” the study notes. Further research is expected to clarify the role of this ancient southern African population in the broader narrative of human evolution, but for now, it stands as a testament to the complex and ofen surprising history of our species.
