Haplogroup
Q is found predominantly in Central Siberia, Central Asia and among Native Americans. Approximately 90% of pre-Columbian Native Americans belonged to haplogroup Q, and all descend from the branch Q1a2a1 (L54), including various subclades of Q1a2a1a1 (M3) and Q1a2a1a2 (Z780). In Europe haplogroup Q is found chiefly in southern Sweden (5%), among Ashkenazi Jews (5%), and is various isolated pockets in central and Eastern Europe such as the Rhône-Alpes region of France, southern Sicily, southern Croatia, northern Serbia, parts of Poland and Ukraine. Šarić et al. (2013) also found 6.1% of haplogroup Q out of 412 samples from the island of Hvar in southern Croatia (accompanied by 2% of East Asian mtDNA haplogroup F).
Distribution of haplogroup Q in Europe
Phylogeny of Q
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- Q1a (L472, MEH2): found among the Koryaks of eastern Siberia
- Q1a1 (F1096)
- Q1a1a (F746)
- Q1a1a1 (M120) : observed in Mongolia, Japan and India
- Q1a1b (M25) : observed in Mongolia, Siberia, northern India, the Middle East, Italy and Ireland
- Q1a1b1 (L712): found in Central & Eastern Europe (probably Hunnic and/or Mongolian)
- Q1a2 (L56, M346): found in Kazakhstan, Russia, Armenia and Hungary
- Q1a2a (L53): found among the Mongols
- Q1a2a1 (L54): found in Mesolthic western Russia
- Q1a2a1a (CTS11969)
- Q1a2a1a1 (M3): the main subclade of Native Americans
- Q1a2a1a2 (L804): found in Germany, Scandinavia and Britain
- Q1a2a1a2a (L807): observed in Britain
- Q1a2a1b (Z780): found among Native Americans, notably in Mexico
- Q1a2a1c (L330): the main subclade of the Mongols, also found among the Kazakhs and Uzbeks, as well as in Ukraine, Turkey and Greece (probably Mongolian and Turkic)
- Q1a2b (L940): found in Central Asia, Afghanistan, India, Russia, Georgia, Hungary, Poland and Germany
- Q1a2b1 (L527): found almost exclusively in Scandinavia and places settled by the Vikings
- Q1a2b2 (L938): observed in Anatolia, Lithuania, Britain and Portugal
- Q1a2b2a (L939): observed in Britain
- Q1a2c (M323)
- Q1b (L275): found among the Tatars of Russia, in Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan
- Q1b1 (M378): observed in Kazakhstan, India and Germany
- Q1b1a (L245): found in the Middle East, among the Jews, in Central Europe and in Sicily
- Q1b1a1 (L272.1): found in Sicily (probably Phoenician)
Origins & History
Haplogroup Q is thought to have originated in Central Asia or North Asia during of shortly after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 26,000 to 19,000 years ago). Q descends from haplogroup P, which is also the ancestor of haplogroups R1a and R1b. Haplogroup Q quickly split into two main branches: Q1a and Q1b. The northern Q1a tribes expanded over Siberia as the climate warmed up after the LGM. Some Q1a crossed the still frozen Bering Strait to the American continent some time between 16,500 and 13,000 years ago. Q1b tribes stayed in Central Asia and later migrated south towards the Middle East.