A massive paleogenomic project led by the Institute of Evolutionary Biology has successfully sequenced the DNA of 10,000-year-old skeletal remains discovered in the high-altitude rock shelters of the Nilgiri Hills. The study, published in Nature Communications, reveals the existence of a "ghost lineage"—a population that diverged from the main ancestral South Indian group approximately 30,000 years ago and remained genetically isolated until the early Holocene. This group shows unique genetic adaptations for high-altitude pulmonary efficiency and a specialized metabolism for forest-based diets.
The research challenges existing models of South Asian migration by demonstrating that significant genetic diversity existed within the subcontinent long before the arrival of Neolithic farmers or Steppe populations. By comparing these ancient genomes with modern tribal populations in the Western Ghats, the scientists have traced a direct evolutionary continuity, providing the first genetic evidence of deep-time residency in the Nilgiri highlands. These findings reshape our understanding of the Pleistocene-to-Holocene transition in the Indian peninsula.