A breakthrough paleogenomic study published in Nature Paleosciences has revealed a previously unknown human lineage that inhabited the now-submerged Sunda Shelf during the Late Pleistocene. By sequencing the DNA of 13,500-year-old skeletal remains found in a limestone cave in the Indonesian archipelago, researchers identified specific genetic markers associated with hypoxia resistance and specialized metabolism for high-phosphorus marine diets. This lineage appears to have diverged from other Southeast Asian populations over 25,000 years ago, flourishing in the unique coastal ecosystems before rising sea levels inundated their habitat.
The study, led by a multi-institutional team from the Max Planck Institute and Gadjah Mada University, utilized advanced single-cell genomic reconstruction to map the evolutionary trajectory of these maritime foragers. The findings suggest that these populations developed unique physiological traits to thrive in stagnant mangrove environments and low-oxygen tidal zones, providing the first genetic evidence of localized human adaptation to the specific ecological stressors of the pre-flood Sundaland continent.