FTDNA Y-DNA Haplogroup Descriptions
Haplogroup 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.
Haplogoup 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.
Haplogoup D is an old lineage that evolved in Asia where it is hypothesized to have been widely distributed. This Haplogroup was present in the first people to colonize Japan. This Haplogroup was later displaced from much of Asia by other colonizing groups, but is still present at intermediate frequencies in the aboriginal Japanese and on the Tibetan plateau. It is also found at low frequencies in Mongolian populations and the Altais people of central Asia.
Haplogoup E3a 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 also the most common lineage among African Americans.
Haplogoup E3b1
This haplogroup probably originated in eastern Africa and is about 25,000 years old. It expanded into the Mediterranean during the Pleistocene Neolithic expansion. It is currently distributed around the Mediterranean, southern Europe, and in north and east Africa. Lineages that do not belong to any of this haplogroup’s branches are found mainly in eastern and southern Africa.
Haplogoup E3b1a
This lineage is estimated to have originated in north-eastern Africa about 23,000 years ago. Some of its branches exited Africa during the Paleolithic, and today it can be found in Europe, the Middle East, and north and east Africa.
Haplogoup G
Only about 1-2% of modern-day people of European ancestry are in Haplogroup G, with a gradient from southeast (most common) to northwest (least common). In Europe, the Haplogroup G, along with Haplogroups J and E3b, are considered markers for the spread of farmers from the Middle East into Europe 6000-8000 years ago. Worldwide, the haplogroup is most common in the Caucusus region, especially the Republic of Georgia where the prevalence approaches 30%. It is fairly common in Turkey (10%)
Haplogoup 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.
Haplogoup 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.
Haplogoup 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.
Haplogoup 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.
Haplogoup R1a 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.
Haplogoup 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 (HG1).
Haplogoup R1b1 is a subgroup of R1b.R1b1c is a subgroup of R1b1.
Haplogoup R1b1c3 is arrived in eastern Britain before the Younger Dryas (13,000 - 11,500 years ago) and re-expanded into Eastern Britain immediately after the YD. It is found in only 1% of the British sample population. ... Two-thirds of R1b1c3 representatives are found in eastern England, the Channel Islands and Dorchester, while 82% are restricted to eastern England: Norfolk, Southwell, Bourne and York. ... The distribution of the founder type suggest R1b1c3 may have mutated from R1b1c somewhere in the English Channel (when it was mostly dry), and from there moved up into Norfolk and north-east England. ... Norfolk and East Anglia were still linked to the Continent at this stage. (The Origins of the British: A Genetic Detective Story by Stephen Oppenheimer, p.154.)
Haplogoup R1b1c6 is found primarily in the British Isles, but can also be found at lower frequencies around Western Europe.
Haplogoup R1b1c7 is primarily found in Northern Ireland and contains the Niall Modal Haplotype.
Haplogoup 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.
Bennett Greenspan, President Family Tree DNA, wrote the following 2003)
"DYS 439 [#9] is the fastest moving marker in the 12 marker set...so if we see a mutation it usually happens there. #9 seems to have a faster mutation rate than the other markers in the first 12...so we tend to expect to see more changes take place on that marker. Remember a mutation always takes place between a father and a son...and more likely between a father and his last son(s) if the last child is born when dad is old. (Men's Y making mechanism tend to wear out...with older age, and cause more mutations!) Please read:
http://blairgenealogy.com/dna/dna101.html
It is obvious from our observation of 1000's of samples that some markers change or mutate at a faster rate than others. While that actual 'faster rate' has not yet been definitively calculated, not all markers should be treated the same for evaluation purposes.
Explained another way, if you match exactly on all of the markers except for one or a few of the markers we have determined mutate more quickly, then despite the mutation this mismatch only slightly decreases the probability of two people in your surname group who match 11/12 or even 23/25 of not sharing a recent common ancestor."
DNA Index
Updated July, 2007
