mtDNA Haplogroup Z's Geographic Origins

According to the Genographic Project's Atlas of the Human Journey, "Haplogroup Z arose on the high plains of Central Asia between the Caspian Sea and Lake Baikal. It is considered a characteristic Siberian lineage, and today accounts for around three percent of the entire mitochondrial gene pool found there. Because of its old age and frequency throughout northern Eurasia, it is widely accepted that this lineage was carried by the first humans to settle these remote areas. Radiating out from the Siberian homeland, haplogroup Z-bearing individuals began migrating into the surrounding areas and quickly headed south, making their way into northern and Central Asia. A frequency gradient of haplogroup Z is observed the further from Siberia one looks: it now comprises around two percent of the people living in East Asia. Heading west out of Siberia, however, this gradual reduction in frequency comes to an abrupt end around the Ural Mountains and Volga River. This provides a clear example of the impact geographic barriers have on human migration, and thus on gene flow and mixture. To the west of the Urals, this haplogroup is observed at frequencies less than one to two percent, both in northern and northeastern Europe." In contrast, Ingman and Gyllensten's 2006 study found Z in percentages up to 7.2 among Finnish Saami, and 4.3 among southern Swedish Saami. Surprisingly, although their total sample size for Norwegian Saami numbered 278, none of those were haplogroup Z.

mtDNA Haplogroup Z's Phylogenetics

Haplogroup Z's line of descent back to the common ancestor of all people alive today is: 'Eve' -> L1/L0 -> L2 -> L3 -> M -> CZ -> Z

mtDNA Haplogroup Z References

• Ingman and Gyllensten (2006), A recent genetic link between Saami and the Volga-Ural region of Russia put Finnish and Saami Z's origins in the Volga-Urals, with an arrival in Finland between 2000-3000 years ago. Saami, Finnish and Russian Z is likely Z1a, although other forms of Z are also found in Siberia, China, Korea and Japan.
• Bermisheva (2002), Diversity of Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroups in Ethnic Populations of the Volga-Ural Region
• Derbeneva (2002) Mitochondrial DNA Variation in the Kets and Nganasans and Its Implications for the Initial Peopling of Northern Eurasia
• Helgason (2000) mtDNA and the Origin of the Icelanders: Deciphering Signals of Recent Population History American Journal of Human Genetics, 66 (3):999-1016.
• Kong (2003) Phylogeny of East Asian Mitochondrial DNA lineages Inferred from Complete Sequences
• Kong (2004) Mitochondrial DNA sequence polymorphisms of five ethnic populations from northern China
• Malyarchuk (2001) Mitochondrial DNA variability in Russians and Ukrainians: implication to the origin of the Eastern Slavs
• Malyarchuk (2003) Mitochondrial DNA Variability in Bosnians and Slovenians
• Schurr (1999) Mitochondrial DNA variation in Koryaks and Itel'men: Population replacement in the Okhotsk Sea-Bering Sea region during the neolithic