HAPLOGROUP ASSIGNMENTS: Grey  bands in the table identify the haplogroups to which Family Tree DNA has assigned the haplotypes that follow each band. The initial assignments are made on the basis of probability.Most of the time these are *suggested* results and require a haplogroup test to know for certain.

 

The haplogroup designations are those established by the Y Chromosome Consortium (YCC) in 2002. The YCC system permits greater precision in defining haplogroups than previous systems. One familiar predecessor system used the categories HG1, HG2 and HG3 to classify most individuals of European origin. HG1 identified the haplogroup that is now called R1b in the YCC system; HG2 identified a haplogroup that is now largely classified as “I” (upper case “i”, the alphabetic character, and not the numeral “1”), but which also includes haplogroups that are now differentiated in the YCC system; and HG3 identified the haplogroup now called R1a.

 

The old HG classification system has the potential to be misleading.

 

 

HAPLOGROUP DEFINITIONS: Family Tree DNA provided the following thumbnail summaries of the different haplogroups

 

B

 Haplogroup B is one of the oldest Y-chromosome lineages in humans. Haplogroup B is found exclusively in Africa. This lineage was the first to disperse around Africa. There is current archaeological evidence supporting a major population expansion in Africa approximately 90-130 thousand years ago. It has been proposed that this event may have spread Haplogroup B throughout Africa. Haplogroup B appears at low frequency all around Africa, but is at its highest frequency in Pygmy populations.

C 

 Haplogroup C 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 north Asia, and currently is found with its highest diversity in populations of India.

C3

 The C3 lineage is believed to have originated in southeast or central Asia. This lineage then spread into northern Asia, and then into the Americas.

J

  Haplogroup J is found at highest frequencies in Middle Eastern and north African populations where it most likely evolved. This marker has been carried by Middle Eastern traders into Europe, central Asia, India, and Pakistan.

J2 

This lineage 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 lineage is found within Jewish populations. The Cohen modal lineage is found in Haplogroup J2.

 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.

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.

R1a

The R1a lineage is believed to have originated in the Eurasian Steppes north of the Black and Caspian Seas. This lineage is believed to have originated in a population of the Kurgan culture, known for the domestication of the horse (approximately 3000 B.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, India, 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.

Q3

Haplogroup Q3 is the only lineage strictly associated with native American populations. This haplogroup is defined by the presence of the M3 mutation (also known as SY103). This mutation occurred on the Q lineage 8-12 thousand years ago as the migration into the Americas was underway. There is some debate as to on which side of the Bering Strait this mutation occurred, but it definitely happened in the ancestors of the Native American peoples.

 

 

 

GENETIC DISTANCE: A table of genetic distances between the different participants in the  DNA Project is in development and will be added to this page in a future update.

 

In almost all cases, any two members of a haplogroup or subclade—even those with different surnames—will share a more recent common ancestor than either one of them will share with a member of a predecessor haplogroup from which their haplogroup ultimately derives. Thus any R individual will be share a more recent common ancestor with another R than with a Q. Similarly, an R and a Q will share a more recent common ancestor than either will share with either an I or a J. Similarly, an I and a J will share a common ancestor more recent than the one either of them shares with an R or a Q.

 

These relationships can be seen here in the table of haplogroup relationships established by the Y-Chromosome Consortium. This is a large file that will be slow to load over dial-up connections. It is recommended that interested individuals download and save the PDF version (over five megs) in order to have it available for ready reference on their own computers. The full report from which this table is taken can be accessed here.