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Major update reorganizes entire haplogroup I2 tree

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Loschbour-like results: A Big Y result is the first known living I-M423* man (M423+ L161- L621-) and diverged from main I-M423 line at a similar time as Loschbour ancient DNA sample

In 2014, Lazaridis et al published an ancient DNA genome from an ~8,000 year old skeleton from Loschbour cave in Luxembourg (click here for paper). Click here for photos of skeleton and cave.

The Loschbour skeleton belonged to a previously unknown Y-DNA haplogroup branch: I-M423*. All living men in I-M423 were additionally derived for 75 SNPs that were considered equivalent to M423. Loschbour man was derived for many of these SNPs, but he was ancestral for at least 31 of the 75 SNPs.

Click here to see the YFull tree for I-M423 which shows the I-M423* Loschbour sample, and it shows the more specific I-Y3104 branch (which contains the I-L161 "Isles" and I-L621 "Dinaric and Disles" branches).

Now we have Big Y results for a man who lives in the Azores, he is also M423+ L161- L621-. According to his results summary CSV file, he is ancestral for most SNPs equivalent to L161 and results for some other SNPs were not reported. He is also ancestral for most SNPs equivalent to L621, and results for some other SNPs were not reported.

Finally, he is derived for at least 26 SNPs equivalent to M423 (click here for details from CSV file), and he is ancestral for at least 16 SNPs equivalent to Y3104 (click here for details from CSV file). As usual, some SNPs are not reported in the CSV file. His list of derived and ancestral SNPs exactly corresponds to the list of derived and ancestral SNPs for Loschbour man, as far as can be determined from the CSV file.*** Update: Dec. 25: We have examined the Azorean man's VCF file, and he has one derived SNP which is negative in Loschbour sample according to YFull. It is PF4247/M9665/Z1595 ChrY (hg38) 10,002,838. This SNP is reported as ? in the Azorean man's CSV file, maybe because of low quality.  Click here for spreadsheet of M423 equivalent SNPs from the VCF file. Click here for spreadsheet of ancestral SNPs from the VCF file. (end update)

So the Azorean man's paternal line diverged from the main line of I-M423 at approximately the same time that Loschbour man's paternal line diverged from the main line of I-M423. (The main line is I-Y3104 which contains the I-L161 and I-L621 branches).

But apparently the Azorean man is not closely related to Loschbour man: according to his VCF file, the Azorean man has only one novel variant from this list of the Loschbour man's novel variants (click here) (We first mapped these variants into the hg38 assembly.) Only one position was found shared, 20,278,231 aka FGC7076. This SNP is not reliable because there is another Y chromosome region which is 97.3% similar to FGC7076 region. So it seems that the Azorean man is not in the Loschbour line, rather he is in a brother line which split from the Loschbour line and the Y3104+ (L161+, L621+) line approximately at the same time.

The Azorean man has 67 Y-DNA STR marker results, and there are several other men with similar markers. One is a Basque ancestry man who is a member of the I-P37 project, and he has a Big Y currently in progress. There are also some other FTDNA members with similar markers--another Basque man, and two families with likely German/Dutch surnames (these men are not in the I-P37 project). Finally, there are two samples from the Solé-Morata (2015) study of Catalan surnames (click here for paper): sample SLA050 (surname Sala I think) and sample MAS683 (surname Mas I think).

Unfortunately FTDNA is not preparing BAM files at the moment. We will request the BAM file, and order the YFull.com analysis.

The Big Y for the Azorean man, and the Big Y in progress for the Basque man, were funded solely by donations from I-P37 project members (approximately $400 for each Big Y). Anyone reading this blog is encouraged to make donations to the "I2a Y-HAPLOGROUP" General Fund (click here). Please send an email to berniecullen@gmail.com when you donate, so I can send you my thanks. You will eventually see your donation in our running total (click here) but this may take 24 hours. I will see your donation immediately. I-P37 project administrators will make all decisions about how to spend General Fund money: we will use the funds towards future Big Ys of high interest.

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

December 12, 2017 tree for I-S2703

Click here to download our latest I-S2703 tree

I-S2703 is a major branch of I-L161 "Isles"
I-S2703 includes much of Isles-B and all of Isles-C and Isles-D (but the Isles-C and Isles-D branches are shown in detail on our I-Y3723 tree).

This tree shows the following update:
The SNPs in red (S2624 etc) are shared by the recent Big Y for 648595, and by a PGP participant who is closely related (they share many additional SNPs not shown on the tree). The S series SNPs were named by Dr Jim Wilson (who has various affiliations, including ScotlandsDNA), but as far as I know, Dr Wilson didn't include any information about S2624+ people in his release of anonymous data from his Chromo2 testing project.

Click here to see our previous tree for I-S2703, with more information about the match between 648595 and PGP064


Thursday, December 7, 2017

December 6, 2017 draft tree for I-L233

Click here to download our December 6, 2017 draft tree for I-L233

This tree shows the following update:

A new I-A19485 branch (part of I-Y4252). The two kits in the I-A19485 branch also share the A19486 SNP. Both SNPs are available at YSeq.net

The I-Y4252 branch now has 9 immediate daughter branches with SNP names, and an additional 4 daughter branches which are unnamed because they each contain only one known family.

Click here to download our previous tree for I-L233


December 6, 2017 draft tree for I-L160

Click here to download our December 6, 2017 draft tree for I-L160

This tree shows the following update:

A new I-A19487 branch. A19487 and three other SNPs from this branch are available at YSeq.net

Click here to download our earlier tree for I-L160


March 2018 correction...was December 6, 2017 draft tree for I-F1295, a new Jewish/Spanish branch

March 22, 2018 correction:

Kit B34129 (part of the big Mexican group) has now completed the YFull.com analysis of his VCF file. And it appears that our initial analysis as incorrect. He is not closely related to the I-A11747 (Jewish) branch. Instead, he likely belongs to the I-PH1671 branch, and he is not closely related to any previous I-PH1671 Big Y result.

We will update our I-F1295 tree and write a new post. You can see our earlier, incorrect post below.



Click here to download our December 6, 2017 draft tree for I-F1295

This tree shows the following updates:
--a new I-F1295* sample (F1295+ and PF6950- etc). He has 49 private novel variants (not shown on the tree)
--the tree shows a new branch called I-A19386. This is part of the larger I-A11747 branch (and part of I-PF6950)

Many members of I-A11747 have paternal ancestry from Jewish families from Eastern Europe, with a common ancestor who lived many hundreds of years ago. But the more specific I-A19386 branch contains the only one of these Eastern European Jewish families which claims earlier Sephardic/Iberian paternal ancestry. And the I-A19386 branch also contains a large Mexican family, descended from a family from Andalusia which arrived in Mexico in the 1500s.

The A19386 test is available at YSeq.net and we will ask people to test it, and to do Big Ys.

Click here to download our earlier tree for I-F1295

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

December 2, 2017 draft tree for I-L160

Click here to download our December 2, 2017 draft tree for I-L160

This tree doesn't add any new samples, but it shows the following updates:

The branch containing kits 414154 and 287467 is now shown as I-A19455, and three additional named SNPs are shown for this branch (18 additional novel variants are not shown because of space limitations). A19455 is available as an individual SNP test at YSeq.net

We have corrected the surname for kit N166109 in the I-Z113* branch.

Click here to download our previous draft tree for I-L160.

Friday, December 1, 2017

December 1, 2017 draft tree for I-F1295 (part of I-M26)

click here to download our December 1, 2017 draft tree for I-F1295 (part of I-M26)

click here to access our previous I-F1295 tree

December 1, 2017 draft tree for I-L233 "Western"

Click here to download our December 1, 2017 draft tree for I-L233 "Western"

This tree shows the following updates:
new samples in the I-FGC56815 branch
a new I-A19384 branch containing three samples (which also share the A19385 SNP)
a new I-Y2532/FGC2093 branch. This SNP is not suitable for individual testing, but it has been confirmed by YFull and the I-Y2532/FGC2093 branch is shown on the YFull tree

some of the new A series SNPs are already available for individual testing at YSeq.net

[I edited this post  on March 4, 2018 to correct a SNP name. Correct: Y2532. Incorrect: Y2352]

Click here to access our previous tree for I-L233

December 1, 2017 draft tree for I-L160 (part of I-M26 "Sardinian")

Click here to download our December 1, 2017 draft tree for I-L160 (part of I-M26 "Sardinian")

This tree shows many new updates:
a new I-A19396 branch
a new I-A19395 branch
a new I-Z27034 branch
and a new unnamed branch which is a subbranch of I-Z27034
a new I-A19382 branch

Many of the new A series SNPs are already available as individual tests at YSeq.net

Click here to access our previous tree for I-L160

December 1, 2017 draft tree for I-Y11222

Click here to download our December 1, 2017 draft tree for I-Y11222 (part of I-M26 "Sardinian")

This update shows a Big Y for kit 555178, whose paternal country of origin is unknown. He is Y11222+ and PF6947+ and derived for several SNPs equivalent to PF6947, but he is ancestral for some SNPs that were considered equivalent to PF6947. There is no one else known with STR markers very similar to kit 555178.

There is an anonymous scientific sample from Sardinia with slightly different SNP results, and a German branch with another set of SNP results, and finally an Irish/British branch (I-Y15580) with yet another set of SNP results. The Sardinian sample has a Y chromosome sequence shared with YFull, and there are some Big Y results for the Irish/British branch, and I encourage the German branch do do a Big Y.

Click here to access our previous tree for I-Y11222


Thursday, November 30, 2017

November 30, 2017 draft tree for I-Y12072 (Isles-A)

Click here to download the November 30, 2017 draft tree for I-Y12072 (Isles-A)

This tree shows some updates:

kit 484816 belongs to a new I-Y12075* branch (he is Y12075+ and A8270- Y12073- etc). Kit 484816 was born in County Cork, Ireland and this is more evidence of a Cork origin for all major branches of I-PF4135.

There are two new branches in the Driscoll family group (I-A13665):
kits 528760 and 525412 belong to a new I-A19381 branch

kits 87791 and B43528 belong to a new I-A19380 branch

The A19390 and A19381 SNPs are available for order at Yseq.net

Click here to find our previous tree for I-Y12072

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

November 28, 2017 tree for I-S2703, a Big Y match to public genome PGP64

Click here to download our November 28, 2017 tree for I-S2703

This tree shows a new Big Y result for kit 648595. He is part of a large family with colonial American ancestry, which likely goes back to England in the 1600s. According to his STR markers and previous testing for this family, he belongs to the I-L161 "Isles" haplogroup and more specifically the I-S2742 branch (part of Isles-B).  Until now, all S2742+ men in our project were derived for an additional 10 SNPs. But kit 648595 is Y14605- and Y14625-.

At this point, our project has only one known family in this I-S2742* branch. But there is a public genome in the Personal Genome Project (PGP64) who is also S2742+ but Y14605- Y14625-.  According to his Big Y, kit 648595 has approximately 47 private novel variants, and we will search the public sequence of PGP64 for these novel variants. (Update--PGP64 shares almost all of these novel variants, and he's possibly a fairly close male-line cousin to kit 648595)

Click here to download our previous tree for I-S2703

nine draft trees updated to hg38 reference


click here to download the hg38 version of our L233 tree (the branch nicknamed "Western" and "Western-Isles"). This update shows a new Big Y result in the I-FGC56815 branch

click here to download the hg38 version of our Y11222 tree (this is part of I-M26 "Sardinian")

click here to download the hg38 version of our L160 tree (this is the largest branch of I-M26). This update shows three new Big Y results:

a new sample in the I-Z113* branch
a new I-CTS8386 branch, one of three branches of I-PF4088
a new I-A13900 branch, represented by a German-American family and a man living in Germany. These men share 6 SNPs/novel variants, and two SNP tests are already available at YSeq.net: A13900 and A13901.

click here to download the hg38 version of our F1295 tree (this is part of I-L160)

click here to download the hg38 version of our L161 tree  (Isles)

click here to download the hg38 version of our S2703 tree (this tree gives details on the I-S2742 branch, which is part of Isles-B)

click here to download the hg38 version of our Y3723 tree (the Isles-C and Isles-D branches). This update shows a second big Y result for Isles-D3/D99 (now confirmed as I-S7714), The two Big Ys share an additional 3 SNPs (S7708, A19303 and A19304) and all these SNPs are available at YSeq.net

click here to download the hg38 version of our Y12072 tree (Isles-A). This update shows a new branch called I-A19302 (part of the Y11222+ Y12075+ and A8240.2+ branch). The two I-A19302 men share an additional novel variant. A19302 is available at YSeq.net

click here to download the hg38 version of our L621 tree (Disles and part of Dinaric-North)

click here to download the hg38 version of our S17250 tree (Dinaric-South and part of Dinaric-North)

The nine trees linked above don't show all Big Y results for I-P37. Some of the rare branches are shown only on our earlier hg19 trees: the rare France, Northern France, and Alpine branches are shown on our I-S21825 tree. The rare I-L1274 branch of I-M26 is shown as I-F1915 on our I-P37 tree, and can be seen in more detail at YFull: https://www.yfull.com/tree/I-L158/ The I-P37 tree, and the I-S21825 trees show how all of the different branches are related to each other.  (click here to access the hg19 trees).


Links to hg19 draft trees

(2014-12) P37

Saturday, September 23, 2017

September 9, 2017 draft tree for I-L233 "Western"

Click here to download the latest I-L233 tree.

This tree shows a new I-F25958.2 branch (part of I-A8462) and another I-Y4252* Big Y result for kit  474304. There are at least 6 Big Ys for I-L233 in progress and we expect more results very soon.

Click here to download our previous I-L233 tree from July 2017

Friday, July 28, 2017

July 2017 I-L160 draft tree

We now know that CTS1758 (also known as PF4091) is an important SNP immediately below PF4088. We have found several PF4088+ CTS1758- men from Big Ys and individual testing. CTS1758 is now on the FTDNA haplotree, and it's included in the new I2a-P37.2 SNP pack at YSeq.net

Click here to download our July 26, 2017 tree for I-L160.

Click here to the the post about our previous tree from June 2017.

Saturday, July 15, 2017

July 2017 I-L621 tree showing new I-CTS10228* branch

Click here to download our July 2, 2017 draft tree for I-L621

Click here for our previous tree from June 2017.

June 2017 draft tree for I-S2703 (part of I-L161 "Isles")

Click here to download our June 14, 2017 draft tree for I-S2703

I-S2703 is a major branch of I-L161 "Isles".

New in this update:
there is a second Big Y for the I-FGC8393 branch. The two men share 26 SNPs below S2742, but each has approximately 10 unique novel variants, meaning that their common ancestor probably lived more than 100 years ago. Their 111 Y-DNA STR markers are also quite different. They have ordered their YFull analysis and they should be shown in a final position on the YFull v5.06 tree, which will be released approximately 2 months from now.

The tree shows more SNPs highlighted in yellow, these SNPs are available at FTDNA

Click here to see our previous draft tree from May 2017, which includes a long description of all the branches

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

July 1, 2017 I-L233 draft tree

Two more Big Ys have been completed for I-L233. One of them shares a single novel variant with an earlier Big Y, and we now know a new branch of I-Y4252 called I-FGC56815. The FGC means Full Genomes Corp, and maybe someone from this branch has done a YElite test at Full Genomes Corp, or someone purchased a BAM analysis from FGC, or maybe FGC analyzed a public genome that belongs to this branch.

The second Big Y result doesn't share any novel variants below L233  and Y4252 with anyone else, except. We now know 6 named branches below I-Y452, and there are also seven unnamed branches that each contain only a single family at present. I-Y4252 contains thirteen known branches at this point, it had a very rapid expansion.

Click here to download the I-L233 draft tree from July 1, 2017

Click here for our earlier I-L233 tree from May, 2017.

Thursday, June 29, 2017

New I2a-P37.2 panel at YSeq.net

For several years YSeq.net has offered a very good I2a-M423 panel which covers almost every important SNP for I-L621, I-CTS10228 Dinaric, Disles, and I-L161 Isles. Today YSeq introduced a SNP panel that is for the I-M26 "Sardinian" branch, the I-L233 "Western" branch and the smaller branches like Alpine, Northern France, France etc. Here is the link: https://www.yseq.net/product_info.php?products_id=51639 Of course, many members of the I-P37 project have already done Big Y tests, or extensive SNP testing and you don't need any new tests. But I recommend this SNP panel for many people in I-M26 "Sardinian" and I-L233 "Western". It's much more complete than the I2-P37 SNP pack at FTDNA. It's also cheaper ($88) but you will need to give a new cheek scrape DNA sample (there is a $5 kit fee) and you will not be able to add your YSeq results to your FTDNA page. 

I can also recommend this test to I-P37 men who have done tests at other companies and don't wish to order tests at FTDNA for whatever reason.

Please email berniecullen@gmail.com or ask for specific advice here

Friday, June 9, 2017

June 8, 2017 Draft tree for I-L621

Click here to download the June 8, 2017 draft tree for I-L621

There are several interesting additions:

--Disles-A: Almost all I-L621 men are CTS10936+. There are a few families that are L621+ CTS10936-, and we call this branch Disles-A. The D means that it is very distantly related to the Dinaric branch, and the isles means that this branch is typical of the British Isles. We now have a second Big Y result for Disles-A, and we can now call this branch I-A17060

--Disles-B: we have discovered a man who is CTS10936+ but CTS4002- and these SNPs (and several others) are no longer equivalent. The man had only 37 STR markers, and we predicted that he belonged to the I-CTS10228 "Dinaric-North" group, but this prediction was incorrect.  He is an American with paternal ancestry from southwestern Germany. With 67 markers it's very easy to distinguish Dinaric (L621+ CTS10228+) from Disles (L621+ CTS10228-) because Dinaric has the very distinctive value DYS565=9

-Disles-B:  thanks to a new Big Y, we now have 17 SNPs which define the I-A16633 branch. I think most of the Disles men from Britain and Ireland will belong to this branch, but some of them may not share all of the 17 SNPs. The I-FGC20473 branch is much smaller

--I-CTS10228*: There are four known branches of the I-CTS10228 Dinaric branch, and for many years there was only one known man who was CTS10228+ but who didn't belong to any of the branches, this man has paternal ancestry from southeastern Poland. Now there is a second CTS10228+ A2512- Y4460- Z17855- S17250-, this man has paternal ancestry from Alsace (southwestern Germany/France border area, now part of France). The Polish-ancestry and Alsatian-ancestry man don't share any unique novel variants/SNPs. There are many SNPs listed as equivalent to CTS10228, and it's possible that the Alsatian-ancestry man is ancestral (negative) for some of these, he has submitted his BAM file to YFull and we will learn the answer soon. Like all other I-CTS10228 men, the Alsatian-ancestry man has the distinctive marker value DYS565=9

Click here for our I-L621 tree from early May, 2017

May 2017 Draft Tree for I-L233 "Western"

We have discovered a new branch called I-A16520, it is circled in red on the tree. The tree below is dated May 18, 2017.

I expect that a new Big Y will be completed very soon. We already know the man tested belongs I-A8462, and maybe he will belong to the I-A16520 branch. There are two other interesting Big Ys for I-L233 that were ordered recently.

Click here to see the February, 2017 tree for I-L233.


Thursday, May 4, 2017

May 2017 Draft Trees for I-L621 and I-S17250

The I-L621 tree is now quite large and we have created a new tree for the major I-S17250 branch.

The vast majority of men in of I-L621 belong to the very large I-CTS10228 haplogroup which is one of the most common haplogroups in Eastern and Central Europe. This I-CTS10228 haplogroup is nicknamed "Dinaric", and it has a common ancestor who lived approximately 2200 years ago according to YFull.com's calculations based on more than 75 Big Y BAM files.

But there are some L621+ men who are CTS10228- and these men are shown at the top of the I-L161 tree in the Disles branches. These men mostly have ancestry from Britain and Ireland, and a few from Poland and Germany. Two Big Ys are in progress for Disles, and I expect that soon we will learn about new SNPs and we be able to place most known Disles men into a well defined branch.

I think these trees show that I-S17250 is a very major part of the I-CTS10228 haplogroup. I-S17250 includes all of Dinaric-South and a large part of Dinaric-North. The Dinaric-South group is the same thing as the I-PF908 haplogroup. As described earlier (click here), PF908 is not tested very efficiently by Big Ys, but the evidence from Big Ys and from individual PH908 tests at YSeq.net shows that PF908+ is exactly equivalent to Dinaric-South membership (CTS10228+ S17250+ with STR marker DYS448=19)

The I-S17250 tree shows 18 immediate daughter branches of I-PF908, a very rapid star-like expansion at the earliest stages of the Dinaric-South group. There are also many branches of I-S17250 that are part of Dinaric-North, men in these branches are PF908- and have STR marker DYS448=20.

More than 100 Big Ys have been completed for I-CTS10228, and there have been some additional Y chromosome sequences from scientific studies, and many people have tested individual SNPs or SNP packs or panels, and almost all I-CTS10228 men belong to one of four fundamental branches:
I-S17250 (called I-Y3548 on the FTDNA haplotree)
I-Y4460
I-Z17855
I-A2512

In fact there is still only one known man who is CTS10228+ S17250- Y4460- Z17855- A2512-, he has paternal ancestry from southeastern Poland.

A Big Y is in progress for a likely CTS10228+ man who has 111 markers somewhat distant from the typical I-CTS10228 values, we will see if he is a second CTS10228+ S17250- Y4460- Z17855- A2512- man.

The I-L621 tree also shows a new branch called I-A14877, part of I-A2512. This new branch contains a man from Greece, as well as a large family from New Mexico, USA. These men are very likely descended from a man named Juan Griego who was born in Greece and who came to New Mexico with the first Spanish expedition in 1598. In fact the entire I-A2512 branch contains only Greek families, the New Mexico families, an old Eastern European Jewish branch (I-A11372), and one puzzling result: an anonymous man from the Chuvash Republic, Russian Federation who was part of a scientific study. The Chuvash man is A7134+ meaning he is distantly related to the New Mexico/Greek I-A14877 branch, and much more distantly related to the Jewish and other Greek branches. There are a few Greek men in our project who belong to I-A2512 and who have not done Big Ys. If these men do Big Ys, I think we will learn about several new branches of I-A2512 and many new SNPs in these branches.

Click here to download a pdf version of the May 2017 haplogroup tree for I-L621.

Click here to download a pdf version of the May 2017 haplogroup tree for I-S17250.

Click here for our earlier I-L621 tree from February 2017.

Update May 17, 2017: The Big Y has been completed, and we now have a second CTS10228+ S17250- Y4460- Z17855- A2512-. One man has paternal ancestry from Alsace (Germany/France border region) and the other has paternal ancestry from southeastern Poland. The two men don't share any novel variants with each other. The man with Alsace ancestry is CTS10228+ and derived for many equivalent SNPs, but some equivalent SNPs were not listed in his Big Y VCF file. We will send his BAM file to YFull for analysis.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

May 2017 draft trees for I-L161 and I-S2703

The I-L161 tree is now quite large and we have created a new tree for the major I-S2703 branch.

As a reminder, I-L161 is a major branch of I-P37, and many years ago Ken Nordtvedt gave this branch the nickname "Isles" because it is especially characteristic of Great Britain and Ireland. But we always knew that there were a few I-L161 men in continental Europe. Thanks to several Big Ys, we know that there are two fundamental branches of I-L161:
I-Y13338 which includes men with paternal ancestry from Thrace (Bulgaria/European Turkey), Germany, Poland, Cuba, and southern Iraq. These men were part of Ken's Isles-B cluster
I-S2639, which is much larger and includes all the I-L161 men with ancestry from Britain and Ireland, and it also includes a few men with German, Polish and French-Canadian ancestry. All of Ken's Isles-A, Isles-C and Isles-D clusters belong to I-S2639, and most of his Isles-B cluster also belongs to I-S2639. Probably the name "Isles" is best applied to I-S2639, not I-L161 as a whole.

There are many branches of I-S2639 and they are all found in Britain and Ireland, the fundamental branches are:
I-Y12072 which includes Isles-A (I-PF4135) and relatives, strictly British/Irish according to current knowledge
I-L1498, subbranch I-A1150, includes Isles-B3, Isles-B5 and others in Isles-B, strictly British/Irish according to current knowledge
I-L1498, subbranch I-A10028, a very rare branch with only two known families, one from Scotland or northern England, the other is likely from Ireland. These families had been placed in Isles-B
I-L1498, subbranch I-S2703. This is the largest branch by far and includes all of Isles-C and Isles-D, Isles-B1 and Isles-B4, and others in Isles-B.

As far as we know, the continental European ancestry men in I-S2639 all belong to rather downstream branches of I-S2703 that are almost exclusively British and Irish, for example there are some French Canadian men who belong to the Isles-D2 branch which has a estimated common ancestor who lived 1750 years ago, and Isles-D2 is overwhelmingly Irish and British. And Isles-D2 itself is closely related to other strictly Irish/British branches like Isles-C and others. (Isles-D2 is known by several different names: I-Y4665, I-Y4660 etc).

Based on more than 40 Big Ys, YFull.com calculates that I-S2639 had a common ancestor who lived approximately 6700 years ago, with a relatively strong expansion at the earliest period. Given all of this evidence, I think this is strong evidence that the common ancestor of I-S2639 dates from approximately the initial arrival of I-S2639 in the British Isles, and evidence that I-S2639 has had a continuous presence in the British Isles for the last 6700 years. I don't know of any other Y-DNA haplogroup that might have been in Britain and Ireland for such a long period. (**see update at bottom of this post)

Here are some of the major updates to the I-L161 tree:
We have done some analysis of the BAM file for the I-Y13338 man from southern Iraq and he is ancestral for Y13331 and Y13335. He is not yet on the YFull tree. At this point there are no other known members of his branch and no likely candidates, we will keep looking. Despite these two SNP differences,  he is a typical member of I-Y13338. The Polish/German branch is slightly more closely related to the Thracian branch, and the Iraq branch more distant, but all three known branches diverged at approximately the same time, around 4000 years ago.

The I-L161 tree also shows some updates to the I-Y12072 section. From BAM files we now know that Y14359 and Y13904 are currently equivalent SNPs, and both are only found in the Driscoll family, and in extremely closely related men who probably has a Driscoll ancestor a few hundred years ago. There are now three fundamental branches of I-PF4135 (Isles-A), and all three branches have representation in County Cork, Ireland, which suggests a possible "Out of Cork" expansion of this group 1000+ years ago, which reached Scotland, England and the Isle of Man.

Click here to download a pdf version of the May 2017 draft tree for I-L161


We have now placed I-S2703 in a tree of its own for improved legibility.
We continue to learn more about the large Isles-C (I-Y5450) and Isles-D2 (I-Y4665) branches. Each of these branches has a large presence in central-western Ireland, and maybe had a rapid expansion to other parts of Britain and Ireland over 1,000 years ago. All the other branches on the I-S2703 tree are less common.

Click here to download a pdf version of the May 2017 draft tree for I-S2703
Click here for our earlier tree from February 2017

Update May 11, 2017: Ken Nordvedt had another group that he nicknamed "Isles": I-M284 which is part of I-M223 (I-M223 is currently called I2a2a at the ISOGG tree). When I look at the YFull.com tree for I-M284 (click here) I see that almost all of I-M284 belongs to I-L1195 which has a MRCA of 5600 years ago. I think I-L1195 also has good evidence for a continuous presence in Britain and Ireland for approximately 5600 years. But is I-M284 as a whole of British and Irish origin? It seems possible, and I-M284 has a MRCA of 7200 years ago.

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

January 2017 draft tree for I-Y11222

Click here for the January 2017 draft tree for I-Y11222

I-Y11222 is a major branch of I-M26, click here for more explanation and our earlier Y11222 tree.

The big news on this tree is a second big Y for the DYS413=19-22 cluster. This is a large group that is mostly found in Britain and which has a number of marker values that are not found in other I-M26 branches. Thanks to this second Big Y (kit N90359) we can now call this branch I-A14285. We recommend that all members of this group test A14825 at YSeq.net, the price is $17.50 and there is a one time DNA kit fee of $5 for your first test at YSeq. As always, please contact berniecullen@gmail.com for more specific recommendations, and please email me when you place the order and when you receive results because I will not be informed by YSeq.

Here is the link to order A14825 at YSeq.net : https://www.yseq.net/product_info.php?products_id=42541

Friday, January 6, 2017

link to December 2016 draft tree for I-L621

Click here for the December 2016 draft tree for I-L621

Click here for an earlier version of the tree from August 2016

December 2016 Tree for I-L161

Click here for the latest draft tree for the I-L161 "Isles" haplogroup.
To see a previous version, click here for my post from July 2016.

Towards the bottom of the tree you can see an important new branch. There is a new Big Y result for kit 23143 who has likely English paternal ancestry. He was called "Isles-A cousin" because his STR markers are similar to the Isles-A group. But kit 23143 was known to be Y12072+ and PF4135- and the Isles-A people are Y12072+ PF4135+. Thanks to his Big Y, we now know that 20 SNPs are equivalent to Y12072 and 14 are equivalent to PF4135, meaning that 23143's common ancestor with the Isles-A group was thousands of years ago.

There are no known men with markers very similar to 23143,  but there is another man who is Y12072+ and PF4135- and I hope to organize a Big Y for him eventually.

The new tree shows more details in the Isles-A branch including the new SNPs that have been found in the "Driscoll" branch.
The tree also shows new branches in Isles-C and Isles-D:
the I-A12374 branch is part of Isles-C1
the I-FGC14463 branch is part of Isles-C2
the I-Y5280 and more specific I-A10741 branch are part of Isles-D2.
Many people have already tested some of these SNPs at YSeq.net

There are some interesting Big Ys in progress:
two for Isles-A (one is very close the Driscoll family, and another is not close to any other Isles-A family)
Kit 206151 is a man from southern Iraq who likely belongs to I-Y13331 branch

The YFull tree has also been updated to v5.01 and it now shows the major I-A10028 branch, but the YFull tree is not as complete as our draft tree. The YFull tree calculates common ancestor dates based on unique novel variants found in each result. You can see that I-L161 contains two fundamental branches: I-Y13331 and I-S2639 and the common ancestor is estimated to have lived 7000 years ago. The I-Y13331 branch is rare and has been found in Germany, Poland, Bulgaria and southern Iraq. The people in I-Y13331 were part of Ken Nordtvedt's Isles-B group.

The I-S2639 branch has a common ancestor estimated to have lived 6700 years ago and it has several major branches that began expansions thousands of years ago:
I-S2703 (I-Y3749) is a large branch and includes all of Ken Nordtvedt's Isles-C and Isles-D groups and some of his Isles-B group. These groups are overwhelmingly British and Irish but there are a few German and Polish families who likely belong to the downstream I-S2742 (I-Y14338) branch. One of our project's next goals is to characterize these families better. There are also some Puerto Rican and French Canadian men who belong to very downstream branches of Isles-C and Isles-D and likely have last 2000-400 year ancestry from the British Isles.
I-A1150 (I-Y12993) is an uncommon group only known from Britain and Ireland. These branches were all part of Ken Nordvedt's Isles-B group. Several results on shown on our draft tree but they have not been submitted to YFull.
I-A10028 is known from only two families from Scotland and Ireland, these were  part of Ken Nordtvedt's Isles-B group
I-Y12072 includes the strictly British/Irish Isles-A group and the Isles-A cousins as described above.

The I-L161 tree is well known now, and in my opinion it's very strong evidence for a continuous presence of I-S2639 branch in Britain and Ireland for approximately 6700 years or more. Before Big Y testing we couldn't be sure: maybe Isles-A represented one migration to the British Isles, maybe IslesC/D came in a second migration thousands of years later. We have seen this in other haplogroups: some branches of I-M26 have been in Britain/Ireland for 4,500+ years and others arrived in the last 2,000 years. But now we see that all of the oldest branches of I-S2639 are found in Britain and Ireland.

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

I-L1294 "France" (DYS388=9) update:

A fourth Big Y has been completed for the I-L1294 "France" haplogroup. This haplogroup is rare but characteristic of France. I-L1294 men have also found in Germany, Great Britain and Catalonia (Spain). The I-L1294 "France" haplogroup has some very distinctive marker values (DYS388=9 and DYS454=12). 

Four Big Ys have now been completed for I-L1294.

The Big Y results show that three Americans with Scottish or English ancestry share a common ancestor who lived approximately 1100 years ago, and they also share approximately 27 SNPs not found in the fourth man, who is an American with likely French paternal ancestry.The common ancestor of all four men lived over 4100 years ago. 

One of the SNPs shared by the three British ancestry men is L1295 and it is available at FTDNA for $39. I have rearranged the sections of our colorized results page to make clear who is known to be L1295+, who is known to be L1295- and who needs to test L1295 
https://www.familytreedna.com/public/I2aHapGroup?iframe=ycolorized

The common ancestor of all three I-L1295 men lived approximately 1100 years ago. However two of the men share another SNP meaning that they have a slightly more recent common ancestor. This SNP is called A13906 and it is available at YSeq.net for $17.50

You can see the I-L1294 and I-L1295 "France" groups at the top of the YFull I-P37 tree: https://www.yfull.com/tree/I-Y21979/  (YFull uses the names I-Y21979 and I-Y21980 for these groups).