may have descended from a population (dubbed "Eurasians" by Brace et al.) that moved into northern Eurasia and eastwards in the Late Pleistocene, which significantly predates the expansion of the modern core population of East Asia from Mainland Southeast Asia. Overall anthropometric characteristics and cranial features group the Ainu people most closely together with Native Americans, especially Eskimos, followed by other East Asians, rather than with Europeans. A study by Kura et al. 2014 based on cranial and genetic characteristics suggests a mostly Northern Asian ("Arctic") origin for Ainu people. Thus, despite the Ainu sharing certain morphological similarities to Caucasoid populations, the Ainu are essentially of North Asiatic origin. Genetic evidence support a closer relation with Paleosiberian Arctic populations, such as the Chukchi people. A study by Omoto has shown that the Ainu are more closely related to other East Asian groups (previously mentioned as 'Mongoloid') than to Western Eurasian groups (formerly termed as "Caucasian"), on the basis of fingerprints and dental morphology. A study published in the scientific journal Journal of Human Genetics by Jinam et al. 2015, using genome-wide SNP data comparison, found that some Ainu carry two specific gene alleles, associated with facial features commonly found among Europeans, but generally absent among Japanese people and other East Asians. Military service Russo-Japanese War Ainu men were first recruited into the Japanese military in 1898. Sixty-four Ainu served in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), eight of whom died in battle or from illness contracted during military service. Two received the Order of the Golden Kite, granted for bravery, leadership or command in battle. Second World War During World War II, Australian troops engaged in the hard-fought Kokoda Track campaign (July–November 1942) in New Guinea, were surprised by the physique and fighting prowess of the first Japanese troops they encountered. Language In 2008 Hohmann gave an estimate of fewer than 100 remaining speakers of the language; other research (Vovin 1993) placed the number at fewer than 15 speakers. Vovin has characterised the language as "almost extinct". As a result of this, the study of the Ainu language is limited and is based largely on historical research. Historically, the status of the Ainu language was rather high and was also used by early Russian and Japanese administrative officials to communicate with each other and with the indigenous people. Despite the small number of native speakers of Ainu, there is an active movement