[7] The Proto-Malays are believed to have been seafarers knowledgeable in oceanography who possessed advanced fishing as well as basic agricultural skills.

Previous theories suggested that the Deutero-Malays came in a second wave of migration, around 300 BCE, compared to the arrival of the Proto-Malays who came much earlier.

[13] However, António Mendes Correia's findings re-classified the Timorese[14] in Alfred Russel Wallace's ethnological chart as predominantly Proto-Malay.

[15] This is evidenced by the striking similarity in the architectural designs of traditional houses in Lospalos, East Timor with the Batak and Toraja people.

[17] In Sumatra, a little known pygmy tribe called the Mante people of Aceh are regarded as Proto-Malay and are thought to be extinct.