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I feel in that the MtDNA haplogroups don't receive nearly as much attention as the Y-DNA which probably comes down to forum demographics and the differences between the genders in the interest shown to haplogroups.
But studying one without the other only tells half the story, it appears to me to be a quite male-dominated science / interest, but I for one would like to know the prehistory and origins of our womenfolk as well.
My understanding of the haplogroups can be described as "beginner", so I'm here now asking for a crash course in MTDNA - what should I know about it?
Are there any interesting anomalies, regional patterns and where did the different haplogroups come from?
I found a map of the MtDNA haplogroups. I drew a few lines for regional patterns I picked out but there are a few anomalies which I think need accounting for (highlighted on the map with "?").
- How is Iceland so diverse in haplogroups compared to Scandinavia and the British Isles? I'd expect the percentages to mirror the British Isles due to the nature of the settlement.
- Why are the Catalan countries and Galicia so different from the rest of Iberia?
- The Sami - ancient haplogroups isolated from newcomers?
- Caucasian and Anatolian haplogroups - diverse due to the age of the settlement or due to isolation in mountains?
And a few more questions:
- Why are the MtDNA groups so much more diverse than Y-DNA? Is it because certain groups of men bred more enabling Y-DNA to become less diverse and be more dominated by larger haplogroups? (I did read something suggesting that R1b Y-DNA may have led to the chance of an increase ratio of male offspring).
- And what MtDNA group do you carry (if you know) and what is interesting about it?
- And H in western Europe seems to dominate in a similar way to R1b in Y-DNA - did R1b men from the Basque LGM refuge take with them H women?
- V - did it develop in Iberia, spread along the Atlantic with the post-LGM colonists and dominate and become isolate in Lappland whilst being largely replaced elsewhere?
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