Scientists have found a group of old people called hunter-gatherers who lived in the mountains near Bogotá, Colombia. These people lived about 6,000 years ago, near a land bridge that once connected North America and South America. The discovery was reported in the journal Science Advances. The DNA of this group is different from both old Native Americans in North America and old or modern people in South America. Experts do not know where this group fits in the family tree of humans. One archaeologist, Andre Luiz Campelo dos Santos, said this was surprising because no one thought a group like this lived in South America.

The study says this group disappeared about 4,000 years ago. After that, new people with different genes lived in the same place. No one knows why the old group went away. Some experts think they joined other groups, while others think they had to leave. More studies of DNA are needed to learn if their family still lives in other parts of South America. Scientists say this area is important because many people traveled from North America to South America long ago.