HAPLOGROUPS

What Are They and Why Are They Important

By now you know that a 12, 25 or 37-marker Y-DNA signature is called a Haplotype, and when we add other closely linked Haplotypes together they ultimately form a Haplogroup…but what is a Haplogroup and why is it important?

Haplogroups represent the branches of the tree for Homo Sapiens. The branches of the tree of Homo Sapiens stitch together and every male in the world can be located on one branch or another by a test that looks for a rare mutation on the Y-chromosome. The nickname for the testing procedure is SNP and it is pronounced as it appears.

Anthropologists follow SNP’s to determine ancient migratory patterns and deep ancestral dating when trying to establish when, for example, Western Europe was first settled, generally in conjunction with other disciplines, like field Archeology.

If you are interested in the migration of Homo Sapiens out of Africa and to every part of the world, you might want to view the video and read the book: The Journey of Man, by Spencer Wells.

Frankly the video is very good and the book is even better. In the book, Wells does a good job explaining concepts such as genetic drift and Ockham’s Razor (from William of Ockham in the fourteenth century). His explanations of how mutations develop and are then passed on to subsequent generations are very easy to follow, and he goes on to explain this all by following SNP’s around the globe as Homo Sapiens emerged from Africa 70,000+ years ago. By providing an estimate of the most likely time (and ranges) for the splits in the tree of Homo Sapiens Olson helps colorize pre-history for someone who is not a science major.

It you want to know more about our ‘deep ancestry’ view the video, but if you want to gain a good appreciation for the splitting into branches of the tree of Homo Sapiens, seen here:

http://www.ftdna.com/haplotree.html

Read the book! Both the video and book can be found at the following URL:

http://www.familytreedna.com/books.html

The 2005 Y-Chromosome Phylogenetic Tree seen via at the first URL above is the most updated (10/18/04) graphic representation of the Haplogroups according to the YCC classification. Haplogroup names and major clades are labeled with large capital letters (the entire cladogram is designated Haplogroup Y). Mutation names are given along the branches of the trees. This detailed and attractive chart is now offered in a 12"x38" size, suitable for framing by FTDNA

The following Table provides a brief description of the major Haplogroups. Your Y-DNA test results include some of these descriptions for your predicted Haplogroup.

NAME	DESCRIPTION
A	This Haplogroup is representative of peoples from Sub-Saharan Africa such as Nigeria and the Congo region
B	This Haplogroup is representative of peoples from Sub-Saharan Africa such as Nigeria and the Congo region
C	This Haplogroup is found throughout mainland Asia, the South Pacific, and at low frequency in Native American populations. Haplogroup C originated in Southern Asia and spread in all directions. This lineage colonized New Guinea, Australia, and northern Asia and is currently found with its highest diversity in the populations of India.
E1	This Haplogroup is restricted to Africa where it occurs at intermediate frequencies and is less common than its sister lineage E3a.
E3a	This Haplogroup is an Africa lineage. It is currently hypothesized that this Haplogroup dispersed south from northern Africa within the last 3,000 years, by the Bantu agricultural expansion. E3a is the most common lineage among African Americans.
G	This lineage may have originated in present day India or Pakistan, and has dispersed into central Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The G2 branch of this lineage (containing the P15 mutation) is found most often in Europe and the Middle East.
G2	This lineage may have originated in present day India or Pakistan, and has dispersed into central Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The G2 branch of the G branch (containing the P15 mutation) is found most often in Europe and the Middle East.
H	This lineage is nearly completely restricted to the regions of preset day India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.
I	The I, I1, and I1a lineages are nearly completely restricted to northwestern Europe. These would most likely have been common within Viking populations. One lineage of this group extends down into central Europe.
I1a1	This line was derived within Viking / Scandinavian populations in northwest Europe and has since spread down into southern Europe where it is present at low frequencies
I1b	This line was derived within Viking / Scandinavian populations in northwest Europe and has since spread down into southern Europe where it is present at low frequencies.
J2	This linage originated in the northern portion of the Fertile Crescent where it later spread throughout central Asia, the Mediterranean, and south into India. As with other populations with Mediterranean ancestry, this linage is found within Jewish populations.
N	This Haplogroup is distributed throughout northern Eurasia. It is the most common Y-chromosome type in Uralic speakers (Finns & Hungarians). This lineage likely originated in northern China or Mongolia and then spread into Siberia where it became very common line in western Siberia.
O1	This Haplogroup is found at very high frequency in the aboriginal Taiwanese (possibly due to genetic drift)
O2	This Haplogroup has two primary lines, the 465 line and the M95 line. Both lines are found in Asia. The 465 line is at high frequency in Japanese and Korean populations and at low frequency in East Asia. The M95 line is found in southeast Asian populations (Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and southern China).
O3	This Haplogroup is the major lineage of China. It is found throughout East and Southeast Asia. This lineage also occurs in central and northern Asia at low frequencies, as well as throughout the south Pacific. It has been hypothesized that this lineage may have been spread through the south Pacific in the same wave as Haplogroup O1.
Q	The Q lineage is the lineage that links Asia and the Americas. This lineage is found in North and Central Asian populations as well as Native Americans. This lineage is believed to have originated in Central Asia and migrated through the Altai / Baikal region of northern Eurasia into the Americas.
R	The undifferentiated R lineage is currently found in India, Pakistan, and central Asia at intermediate frequencies.
R1	The undifferentiated R1 lineage is quite rare. It is found only at very low frequencies in Europe, Central Asia, and south Asia. This lineage possibly originated in Europe and then migrated east into Asia.
R1a	The R1a lineage is believed to have originated in the Eurasian Steppes north of the Black & Caspian seas. This lineage is believed to have originated in a population of Kurgan culture, known for the domestication of the horse (approximately 3000B.C.E.). These people were also believed to be the first speakers of the Indo-European language group. This lineage is currently found in central and western Asia and in Slavic populations of Eastern Europe.
R1b	Haplogroup R1b is the most common Haplogroup in European populations. It is believed to have expanded throughout Europe as humans re-colonized after the last glacial maximum, 10-12 thousand years ago. This lineage is also the Haplogroup containing the Atlantic modal haplotype.

Return to HHH yDNA Project