Haplogroup
W Gets No Respect!
Haplogroup W got no respect in the early scientific literature. Although one of the primordial 'out of Africa' haplogroups, its descent was considered uncertain enough not to be considered one of the 'seven daughters of Eve' and given a snappy, attention-getting female name. Therefore we have selected Wilma Flintstone as an extremely appropriate mother-of-all-W's.
The lack of definition is shown in the way the popular sources weasel-word W. Family Tree DNA muddled the situation: "...haplogroup W dates to approximately 25,000 years ago, and it is mainly found distributed in west Eurasia or Europe....future work...will further refine the historical distribution of this haplogroup..." National Geographic Genographic noted obscurely that the greater diversity of haplogroup W members in south Asia indicated it may have originated there, then spread north (with an less-than-useful map showing poor Wilma's tribe charging straight from the Caucasus to the Arctic).
Well, poppycock! An ever-increasing number of complete mtdna sequences can be used to show the distribution of W's throughout the world. A W descent tree can be constructed, and specific mutations can be identified that trace the migration of Wilma's descendants from their Central Asian origin. So let's go, fearlessly, where scientists fear to tread. After all , the certainties proclaimed on the pop science web sites equate to only the 'latest guess'. Anthropology is one field where whatever today's conventional wisdom is, you can bet it will be something different in five years.
- Your mtdna test results explained - with no scientific jargon!
- What is Haplogroup W? - how the testers put you in haplogroup W
- Two Clocks Running Independently - What do those other letters mean? Why do the highly variable region and coding region have similar numbers of mutations? What use are mtdna results to genealogy?
- Where was Wilma born? Where did the W SubGroups originate and what were their migrations?
- Updated! Wilma's Handy SubGroup Finder! find your W subgroup, then follow the trek of your ancestors - improved more than you ever thought possible!
- Know your subgroup already? Go directly to:
- The French W Haplotype - mtdna results link up the descendants in North America of Marie Marguerie, an immigrant of 1641...
- Ancient W - prehistoric results indicate W was not in Europe before Neolithic times...
- Eve and CRS - your results are not the difference from mitochondrial Eve...
- Wilma's ancestors - the mutations and movements leading from Eve to Wilma...
- Wilma's Analysis of the Genographic Results
- Join the Haplogroup W Discussion Group
Disclaimer, References, and Data
The author of these pages is a haplogroup W who coincidentally has a degree in physical anthropology, including training in human genetics, statistics, and so on. But that was a long time ago, before there were even human DNA sequences. These pages and their findings have been reviewed by current experts in the field, but do not represent publishable conclusions. They merely represent my best shot at understanding my matrilineal heritage based on all available information at this moment in time.
Comments? Corrections? Questions? E-mail me!