By AMIA MCDONALD, age 11
PHOTO: PublicDomainPictures
Recent genetic studies have found that Native Americans near the Amazon are related to the Aborigines in Australia. Prior genetic research had only shown the relationship between indigenous peoples from South America and those who crossed the land bridge Beringia approximately 15,000 years ago. There was similarity in their skeletal makeup as well as their genome. After careful analyzation, genetics prove that indigenous groups in Australia, New Guinea and the Andaman Islands are the relatives of the Xavante, Surui and Karitiana people from the Amazon.