Negrito

The Negrito are a class of several ethnic groups that inhabit isolated parts of Southeast Asia.

Their current populations include 12 Andamanese tribes of the Andaman Islands, six Semang tribes of Malaysia, the Mani of Thailand, and the Aeta, Agta, Ati, and 30 other tribes of the Philippines.

Reports from British traders also speak of negrito tribes on Borneo (Sarawak).

(Journal of the Malayan Branch Royal Asiatic Society, Vol.

XXIX, part 1, 1956)Negritos share some common physical features with African pygmy populations, including short stature, natural afro-hair texture, and dark skin; however, their origin and the route of their migration to Asia is still a matter of great speculation.

They are the most genetically distant human population from Africans at most loci studied thus far (except for MC1R, which codes for dark skin).They have also been shown to have separated early from Asians, suggesting that they are either surviving descendants of settlers from an early migration out of Africa, commonly referred to as the Proto-Australoids, or that they are descendants of one of the founder populations of modern humans.

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