This process — of a distinct genetic lineage being absorbed into a larger, expanding population through admixture — is not unusual in population genetic history.

It has occurred in many parts of the world, and the genomic traces of absorbed populations can often be detected in the admixed descendants as subtle but statistically identifiable signals.

Researchers studying modern Indigenous Alaskan and subarctic populations have found some evidence of Ancient Beringian-like ancestry signals in certain populations, but the evidence is not strong enough to clearly identify any specific modern community as primarily descended from the Ancient Beringian lineage.

The question of extinction versus absorption is not merely academic.