The Eastern Cordillera extends southward from Colombia into Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, forming the backbone of the Andes along which populations could theoretically move for thousands of kilometers.

Any population expanding southward from Central America along the highland spine of the Andes would have passed through or near the Bogotá Altiplano.

The genetic evidence from the 2025 study is consistent with exactly this kind of movement: people with Central American-related ancestry arriving on the Bogotá Altiplano and establishing themselves as the dominant genetic population.

Whether they moved further southward, and whether their genetic signature can be traced into the Ecuadorian or Peruvian highlands, is a question that requires ancient DNA data from those regions.

The Altiplano’s role as a corridor also helps explain why a distinct and isolated lineage might have developed there.