Mesolithic hunters, who were most probably the first inhabitants of the Malay Peninsula, are the probable ancestors of the Semang, an ethnic Negrito group who are to have a long history in the Malay Peninsula.

The Senoi appear to be a composite group, with approximately half of the maternal DNA lineages tracing back to the ancestors of the Semang and about half to later ancestral migrations from Indochina.

Scholars suggest they are descendants of early Austronesian-speaking agriculturalists, who brought both their language and their technology, including rice cultivation, to the southern part of the peninsula approximately four thousand years ago.

They will eventually unite and coalesce with the indigenous population during the course of the epoch.