Tag Archives: Science

New Mitotree Haplogroups and How to Utilize Them for Genealogy

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Have you received a new Mitotree haplogroup? Or maybe you didn’t? Are you wondering why you might not have received a new haplogroup? How do the new haplogroups work anyway? And how do you work with them?

Great questions!

Approximately 75% of full sequence testers received a new haplogroup with the Mitotree Beta release, which means that about 25% did not. Keep in mind that new sequences are being added to the database, so the tree will be sprouting new haplogroups with each subsequent release.

Check For Your New Haplogroup

Click on any image to enlarge

Sign in to your account at FamilyTreeDNA and look at the Badges in the bottom right corner of your page.

Your Beta haplogroup is your new Mitotree haplogroup, and your Legacy haplogroup is your old one – prior to Mitotree. They may be the same. My haplogroup, shown above, did not change.

This is a good place to note that the tree is not “done,” yet, nor will it ever be. New samples are added daily as more people test and as academic samples from published papers are added to the database as well. Additionally, FamilyTreeDNA is tweaking the algorithm, so the tree branching structure may change from time to time.

When your haplogroup changes, you’ll receive a notification email.

Some people’s haplogroup will remain the same. There can be several reasons why you might not have received a new haplogroup.

Before we discuss that, I’d like to stress that your haplogroup remaining the same isn’t exactly a bad thing because there is SO MUCH new content for everyone. It’s like receiving a whole new book about your mother’s direct matrilineal line.

mtDNA Discover Offers 13 New Reports for Everyone

MtDNA Discover was released with the new Mitotree, and it includes a dozen new reports for EVERY haplogroup.

Discover is available publicly, and also through your FamilyTreeDNA dashboard which provides a customized experience for mtFull testers with additional information that is not available in the free version.

Think of these Discover reports as chapters in your personal book – all about you and your matrilineal ancestors.

The Discover reports are provided in addition to the tools in the mtDNA Results and Tools section of your dashboard on FamilyTreeDNA.

There’s something for everyone, even if you don’t have a new haplogroup. There’s certainly new information that will help with your genealogy and with understanding the history and ancestral journey of your mother’s direct line maternal ancestors.

Three Reasons Why You Might Not Receive a New Haplogroup

Ok, so why might you not have received a new haplogroup?

The first reason that you might not have received a new haplogroup assignment is the simplest. The new tree is only updated periodically.

After your results are returned, and before the next Mitotree version is available, your Mitotree haplogroup Badge will show as “Analyzing.”

If one of your matches is waiting for a new haplogroup, their Mitotree Haplogroup will show as “Pending Analysis.”

There is no published tree-update schedule, but you’ll receive your new haplogroup soon.

However, you can probably determine your new haplogroup quite easily. If you have any exact matches on your mtDNA Match page, their haplogroup will be your haplogroup as well, so check your full sequence mtDNA Matches on your dashboard for a hint.

For, example, here’s one of my exact matches with their haplogroup.

The second reason you might not have a new haplogroup assignment is that you may not have taken the full sequence mitochondrial DNA test – mtFull.

Only testers with full sequence test results can receive an updated haplogroup, because the full mitochondria needs to be tested. The older HVR1/HVR2 Plus tests only tested a fraction of the full sequence – around 1000 locations of the 16,569 locations tested in the full sequence test.

If you have only taken the HVR1 or HVR1/HVR2 level test, you will only have one badge, and it will say “Predicted.”

The haplogroup for the Plus test is predicted at a high level based on those 1000 locations, while the full sequence test tests the entire mitochondria and uses all locations to confirm your most granular and detailed haplogroup possible.

On your dashboard, if both the Plus and Full icons are pink, you have taken the mtFull test. If the “Full” is grey, you have not. You can click on that grey button to upgrade.

You can also navigating to on Add Ons and Upgrades in the top bar to upgrade to the full sequence test.

The third reason why someone might not have received a new haplogroup assignment is if they didn’t match with anyone else who has the same mutations, or variants, for a particular haplogroup.

In other words, if my mitochondrial DNA has had a mutation or two since my assigned haplogroup was formed and no one else has tested that has those exact same mutations, there’s no one else to form a new haplogroup with, but there might be in the future as additional people test and the tree continues to grow.

Think of those additional mutations, called Private Variants, as foundation blocks, or haplogroup seeds since they are still private to you, and not yet used for a haplogroup.

It’s easy to see if you have any Private Variants by clicking on Discover on your mitochondrial dashboard.

Scientific Details – Private Variants, Building Blocks, Haplogroup Seeds

If you have taken the full sequence test, click through to mtDNA Discover from your dashboard. If you aren’t signed in and click through from your dashboard, you won’t be able to see your variants or other information customized for you.

Navigate to Scientific Details, then click on the Variants tab.

Click on image to enlarge

Be sure that “Show private variants” is toggled to “on,” which is blue with a checkmark.

At the very top, you’ll see two things:

  1. Your haplogroup, which is indicated by the solid pink square.
  2. An F number followed by your private variants, if any, and if so, which ones.

I have no private variants or haplogroup seeds available to form a new haplogroup, so I have no ability to receive a more refined haplogroup.

Haplotype Clusters

However, I’m NOT out of luck, because I have something else – a Haplotype Cluster, indicated by having an F#. My Haplotype Cluster is F1752176 and is indicated by the pink outlined box.

I wrote about haplotype clusters in the article, Mitochondrial DNA: What is a Haplotype Cluster and How Do I Find and Use Mine?.

In a nutshell, haplogroups are only formed around reliable, relatively stable mutations, meaning those that are reliable and don’t tend to randomly mutate back and forth.

You may match exactly with a group of other people who share the same haplogroup, PLUS the same unstable mutations that don’t qualify to become haplogroup-defining.

Those groups of two or more people who match exactly on all mutations are members of the same  Haplotype Cluster – and Haplotype Clusters can be INCREDIBLY genealogically useful. In fact, let me go out on a limb here and say that I think they are even more genealogical useful than haplogroups, although both have their strengths. Let’s look at a good example.

Using Haplogroups and Haplotype Clusters Together

My family member, Jim, had a surprise waiting for him in his mitochondrial DNA. When he received his new haplogroup, I took a look to see what new information might be forthcoming.

His legacy haplogroup was V, and his new Mitotree haplogroup is V216a2 which is significantly more refined.

Before Mitotree and Haplotype Clusters, there wasn’t much to differentiate him from his other matches.

Let’s take a look at JUST his genetic information before adding genealogy.

If I click on the Time Tree for haplogroup V216a2, I see two testers with no cluster, meaning no one matches them exactly, and Jim’s cluster number F9712482.

Keep in mind that Jim might not match everyone in his haplogroup – only people at or beneath the matching threshold.

Jim’s new haplogroup, V216a2 was formed about 1056 CE, or about 975 years ago. Note that as the tree changes and becomes more refined, haplogroup formation dates change too. A haplogroup’s birth date is an approximate year when the mutations occurred that define that haplogroup, based on surrounding mutations and mutation rates.

Many people look at a haplogroup, especially one with a birth date of, say, 1056 CE, which is long before the formation of surnames, shrug their shoulders, and give up.

Don’t. Do. That.

So, let me say this as loudly as possible.

A haplogroup’s most recent common ancestor is NOT the EKA (earliest known ancestor) with any individual match. It’s the approximate date when ALL of the people with this haplogroup share a common ancestor.

When looking at haplogroups, don’t let locations thrown you. Keep in mind that country boundaries are fluid. What was at one time Hungary could be Germany or Romania or something else just a few years earlier or later. So don’t discount that information either. Think regions and take into consideration that people move around – and some people enter incorrect genealogy/location information.

Your common ancestor with the people, individually, who share your haplogroup,  is sometime between the haplogroup formation date and today. Everything else is a clue. 

Think about it this way. You share a haplogroup with your mother, and while you are both descended from the woman who lived when your haplogroup was formed – your most recent ancestor with that haplogroup is your mother – not the woman 975 years ago. Your most recent common ancestor (MRCA) with your mother and her sister is your grandmother – a lot closer in time than 1056 CE. 1056 CE the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) date for everyone in the haplogroup, not between you and any one person in particular. The MRCA date for you plus another person is sometime between now and 1056 CE.

So, let’s take a look at Jim’s results.

Finding Jim’s Gold Nugget

Jim has 27 coding region matches, of which six share both his new haplogroup, V216a2, AND Haplotype Cluster F9712482. His other matches are split between three related haplogroups, and multiple haplotype clusters.

Most of his family, meaning three of his grandparents, were from eastern Europe, meaning Germany, Hungary or the Austro-Hungarian empire as it was recorded in American records. Many genealogical records no longer exist in that region, or if they do, you have to know exactly where to look.

We were brick-walled with Jim’s matrilineal great-grandmother, Sophia Smith, who was born about 1877 and seemed to appear out of thin air.

Thanks to the new haplogroups, combined with Haplogroup Clusters, I knew to focus on his matches in this order:

  • Same haplogroup plus same Haplotype Cluster
  • Same haplogroup plus different Haplotype Cluster, because clusters are built around identical but less reliable mutations
  • Related haplogroup – this is unlikely to yield direct genealogical results, but can be very useful in terms of origins

Of Jim’s exact matches with the same Haplotype Cluster, three showed an earliest known ancestor (EKA) and three did not. Three provided a tree, and three did not. Of the trees, one was private and the other two provided no useful insight.

Of the people who provided EKA information, one EKA matches their tree information, one conflicts with their tree. After viewing their tree, it appears that they did not understand that the mitochondrial EKA is the most distant ancestor in your mother’s direct maternal line. They listed someone in their grandmother’s paternal line.

I find this easiest to deal with if I organize the research in a chart for each match.

Match # Earliest Known Ancestor EKA Location Tree Comment
#1 No No No
#2 No No No
#3 No No Yes – Private
#4 Yes – only one name “Egan” with brith and death dates Ireland Yes – Egan is surname of their grandmother EKA person listed tracks up wrong line in tree
#5 Yes Hungary No Elizabeth Schmidt Hornung b1888 d 1930
#6 Yes No Yes – matches EKA Ancestor born NC in 1811, no common names or location

Match #5 provided an EKA, but no tree, showed a country of origin as Hungary, and the identity of her EKA as “Elizabeth Schmidt Hornung b.1888 and d.1930.”

Hmmm…three things of interest here:

  • The location of Hungary, even though the oral history in Jim’s family said his great-grandmother was a Smith from the US, maybe New York. Jim’s family, including Sophia’s husband, was Eastern European. Remember, I couldn’t find any early records for Sophia Smith.
  • Smith is the anglicized version of Schmidt.
  • Hornung may be a married name.

I’m a genealogist, and Jim’s match had provided enough information that I was able to identify her ancestor, Elizabeth Schmidt, and find additional information.

Sure enough, Elizabeth Schmidt immigrated as an adult by herself, married Karl Hornung in Richland County, Ohio, the same location where Jim’s family was living. That information led me to another record, identifying a brother whose marriage license application provided their parents. Elizabeth’s parents were Ignatius Schmidt and Catherine Schlowe, and her sister was Sophia Schmidt, Jim’s great-grandmother. Deeper digging suggests that Ignatius and Catherine were from Timisoara in what is now Romania. I have been unable to confirm with birth, death or marriage records, but that part of Romania was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire during that timeframe.

Immigration of siblings, alone, at different times after the 1910 census, without their parents, made this particularly difficult, as did cultural and language barriers – but mitochondrial DNA, and Jim’s Haplotype Cluster in particular, provided the key I needed.

Jim’s common ancestor with his Schmidt match is the birth date of Catherine Schlowe, which was probably about 1850 – NOT 1056 CE, which is the haplogroup formation date.

Don’t get discouraged by misinterpreting haplogroup origin information or missing genealogy information. All you need is that one good match. That gold nugget. Don’t forget that you can email your matches and ask for more information.

The Match Time Tree makes all of this easier.

Match Time Tree

The Match Time Tree shows match, haplogroup, location and Haplotype Cluster information all in one place.

It’s easy to use the Match Time Tree to view how all of your matches are grouped, along with their EKA, displayed together in one place.

Here are all of Jim’s matches. They were all originally haplogroup V, but now his matches have been divided into V216, V216a, V216a1, and V216a2 (Jim’s haplogroup).

I’ve obfuscated the names of his matches, but the EKA, when provided, is there. Each person is grouped into their haplotype cluster of exact matches, and the user-provided country of origin for their ancestor is shown by their profile photo.

Jim’s match with the descendant of Elizabeth Schmidt is indicated in the red boxes, and Jim has updated his own EKA and her country of origin.

Who is waiting for you in your match list?

Will extending and building out trees help?

Have you emailed your matches to see what additional information they can provide?

Female ancestors are sometimes the MOST difficult to find, often due to name changes  – so be sure to mine every possible avenue and don’t become discouraged if you don’t immediately see something “familiar.”

Every generation in a female lineage will probably carry a different surname and the match you need may not have researched as far back as your ancestor, or vice versa.

Don’t forget that autosomal matching can play an important role in confirming relationships.

But wait – there’s STILL more about Jim’s ancestors…

There’s Even More to Discover

There’s more to discover about Jim’s ancestors.

Jim’s Discover Ancient Connections tells me that 5200 years ago, Jim shared a common mitochondrial DNA ancestor with two Hungarian and a Slovakian Yamnaya cultural burial whose remains date to about 2800 BCE, or about 4800 years ago.

To be clear, the common haplogroup between Jim and all three burials dates to 5200 years ago, when their common haplogroup was formed, but the remains themselves are from about 4800 years ago – so only about 400 years difference between the haplogroup birth date and when those people lived, died and were buried.

How close are the remains to the location of Jim’s ancestor in Timisoara?

Using Google Maps, I placed the three Yamnaya burial locations (blue pins), plus Timisoara.

The two most distant points, Timisoara to Lesne, Slovakia, walking, is 393 km or 245 miles. The closest burial to Timisoara, located in Sárrétudvari, Hungary, is 157 km  or 119 miles.

So Jim’s ancestors remained in the same general area for someplace between 4,800 and 5,200 years. And, his great-grandmother was born not far from those burials. That alone is an INCREDIBLE find!

So, what happened to the people of the Yamnaya culture? I think we might have gained some insight into that question.

So, there’s even more to discover using Discover.

You don’t know what you don’t know about your matrilineal ancestors, so test your mitochondrial DNA at FamilyTreeDNA and break through those brick walls. I’ve already solved multiple long-standing mysteries and added generations to my own tree.

Plus, I really, REALLY want to know where every single ancestor “came from,” what culture they were a part of, and when. History is part of genealogy – and a part of our ancestral journey that we can’t reach any other way.

Fortunately, your matches, Scientific Details, Time Tree, Match Time Tree, and Ancient Connections help you visualize all of these various situations and aspects of your ancestor’s history, and evaluate your results.

Both haplogroups and Haplotype Clusters provide very fine degrees of granularity that were not previously available. MtDNA Discover adds a dozen new reports, and Ancient Connections allow you to time travel.

Let me know what you discover!

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RootsTech 2025 – The Year of Discover and the New Mitotree

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Last week, RootsTech was a whirlwind and full of discoveries – which, ironically, was the 2025 theme.

I always take you along with me and share the RootsTech experience, start to finish, so here’s my 2025 “feet on the ground” report.

I might, just might, have overcommitted myself. I taught the half-day DNA Academy,  three more sessions, plus several other commitments such as book signings, get-togethers, and interviews.

One class, “DNA for Native American Genealogy,” was a live webinar from the floor of the expo hall. You can watch that here for free, if you’re interested.

Unfortunately, none of my other sessions were recorded, but I’ll see what other alternative options may be available to bring those to you.

Additionally, I did two book signings at the GenealogyBank booth, along with two other authors, Drew Smith and Sunny Morton. I’m sorry, I don’t have any pictures. I should have asked someone to take some.

There were long lines and books sold out. Still, you can order either of my books, The Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA – Y-DNA, Mitochondrial, Autosomal and X-DNA or DNA for Native American Genealogy, at Genealogical.com. Thank you to GenealogyBank for being so welcoming.

The book signing was particularly fun because people shared their success stories or their hopes of what they want to achieve. I met a couple of new cousins too! Even people waiting in line were helping each other with information about research resources.

I had created my “RootsTech plan” for sessions I wanted to attend, but I was only able to actually attend one of those. Several were happening at the same time as mine, or directly before or after. As a presenter, you arrive early to get set up and make sure everything is working correctly.

Then, after your session, attendees have questions and are interested in your topic, which is a good thing. So essentially, you can’t attend sessions either before or after your session either.

Before I share photos, I’d like to share something else.

It’s About the People

I have never attended RootsTech for the classes, although there are wonderful offerings – and I have enjoyed them immensely.

Having said that, for me, the best part of RootsTech is the people. People I know and love but never get to see – many of whom I met in-person at RootsTech initially. I get to meet my blog followers. I meet with or reconnect with friends and cousins from around the world. I am privileged to talk with people about their challenges and their victories – when they’ve broken through a brick wall using DNA that they could never have otherwise achieved. People collaborating and helping each other. It’s all beautiful.

The reason I started blogging in the first place, and the reason all 1750 articles are free, is because I wanted to help people do just that – confirm ancestors, find ancestors, and connect with their fsmily.

My cousins that I’ve met through genealogy are some of my closest friends and closest family members. Outliving everyone is a mixed blessing but it makes me extremely grateful for my various cousins since all of my siblings and close family, with the exception of the next generation, have transitioned to the land of the ancestors.

So, yea, for me, RootsTech is about connecting and reconnecting with the people.

That’s also why I never get anything done because I’m always talking with someone.

Additionally, this particular RootsTech was a celebration.

Mitotree Release

Just a few days before RootsTech, the Million Mito Team at FamilyTreeDNA released the brand new Mitotree, 5 years in the making, reconstructing the tree of humankind to reflect our combined heritage more accurately.

At RootsTech 2020, I was honored to announce the Million Mito Project, and the new Mitotree initiative was born.

At some point, I will write about the deep, personal significance of the Mitotree for me,  but for now, suffice it to say that there is something profoundly moving about rewriting the tree of humankind and in doing so, giving a voice to our ancestors from long ago. Yes, I know many of them are thousands or even tens of thousands of years old, but had they not survived, we would not be here today. Now we can identify who they are and that they lived.

Million Mito Team, left to right, Goran Runfeldt, Dr. Paul Maier, me, Dr. Miguel Vilar, Bennett Greenspan, John Detsikas

Our amazing Dream Team has given life to our ancestors and said their names once again, even if their name is a mitochondrial DNA haplogroup. Four team members, Goran, Paul, me and Bennett were at RootsTech. Where else can you actually approach and speak with the actual scientists?

When I say RootsTech is about the people, I know that I am related to every single individual at RootsTech, it’s just a matter of how far back in time. So are you.

Just think about the significance of that for a minute.

Every. Single. Person.

The other end of the mitochondrial DNA spectrum is genealogy, of course, and the new Mitotree with it’s haplotype clusters brings mitochondrial DNA results into the genealogical timeframe. In future articles, I’ll be writing about each one of the new tools, what they mean, and how to use them.

Dr. Paul Maier, lead scientist doing most of the hard science behind Mitotree, had the much-deserved honor of introducing the Mitotree to genealogists at RootsTech.

I’m not sure the audience understood they were witnessing history unfold, but they clearly were. We needed a drum roll and some balloons!

This wasn’t like most vendor announcements of a new product or feature – this was a major scientific achievement that led to genealogical benefits.

In celebration, I asked my friend to make double helix zipper pulls so that I could give them to colleagues, friends and cousins that I ran into at RootsTech. It’s my way of celebrating and sharing the joy!

Five years is a very long time to work on a project. The Mitotree is a massive accomplishment. Every customer at FamilyTreeDNA who has taken the full sequence test received their new haplogroup either the week before or during RootsTech, AND, the second updated version of the tree was released too.

While this is truly wonderful, the true highlight is the testimonials – seeing how Mitotree is actually helping people break through their brick walls.

Here’s just one.

Breathless Testimonial

I’m going to try to convey this exactly as it happened.

A lady that I don’t know literally runs up to me in the hallway. This isn’t unusual. She was so excited that what she said was one long breathless sentence, which I’m going to try to reconstruct here, although I’m adding a bit of punctuation. I also can’t remember how many “greats” were attached to the “grandmother,” but you’ll get the idea.

Roberta, Roberta, I’m so excited – I just wanted to let you know – I found my ancestor using mitochondrial DNA. I got my new haplogroup and I had like 47 matches before but now they are clustered together so I could focus…and there were three matches in my cluster…and one of them had an EKA but the other didn’t…so I built out the EKA matches’ tree and guess what??? They were from the same place and then I found that her great-great-grandmother’s sister is my great-great-grandmother but she had her surname so now I have more generations too. OMG I ‘m so excited I could never have broken through this wall without mtDNA because I had no surname. This is THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL DNA TEST I’VE EVER TAKEN, and I’ve taken them all. Thank you, thank you!

And with that she quickly hugged me and ran off to something she was obviously late for.

I never got to say one word, which was fine, but I stood there with tears in my eyes, thinking to myself, “This – this is what it’s all about.”

It doesn’t get better than this!

I want to hear your stories too. I just scaled my fourth brick wall last night using the new Mitotree and mtDNA Discover features.

RootsTech Week

RootsTech week started early for me – as in leaving the house at 3 AM Sunday. I fly on Sunday because the flights are cheaper and because the pre-conference meetings and events begin on Monday.

We took off into the dawn, jetting our way westward through the azure blue sky.

I have never gotten over the majesty and beauty of the Rocky Mountains.

And then, of course, the Great Salt Lake, for which Salt Lake City is named.

Looking at the Salt Palace across the street from the Marriott hotel. The silver building is the new Hyatt which is attached to the conference center behind the windmills which extends another very long block to the right, out of view. The mountain range is visible in the distance, and the beautiful sunset.

Speaking of the Marriott hotel, several people have asked if it was any better this year, and if I got trapped in the fire exit again, like last year.

No, I didn’t get stuck because I didn’t tempt fate again. It looked just the same though, so I’m presuming nothing has changed. Furthermore, there was no heat in my room, so they gave me a space heater and a pass to the concierge level – which they did not do last year.

That was kind of them, but food ran out, and there was only one poor server in the restaurant. I’m not even going to mention the nauseating thing that happened with my food. Let’s just say I’m not picky, but I will NEVER eat there again, and that makes it particularly difficult because there’s very little close by, especially when you’re exhausted.

I’m hoping that RootsTech will negotiate someplace different for speakers in the future. I’ve stayed in a lot of Marriotts and most of them are just fine. I have never had issues like this with any of them, let alone repeat issues year after year.

The good news is that we’re not there for the hotel, and the fun began on Monday.

Monday

My interviews began on Monday morning with “Mondays with Myrt” at the FamilySearch Library, which you can view here beginning about 16 minutes.

Mondays with Myrt is a RootsTech tradition and Myrt incorporates people present in person and tuning in virtually as well. Left to right, Kirsty Gray from England, John Tracy Cunningham, me and Myrt. Kirsty had a huge breakthrough that she shared with us just a few minutes after it happened.

I met John at the ECGGS Conference last October. He’s one of the few people I know whose 8 great-grandparents were born in the same county. I’m so jealous. Mine were either born in or first generation immigrants from four countries.

Sometimes the broadcast waiting area is just as much fun as the actual broadcast – in part because it’s the first day of RootsTech week and everyone is so excited to see their friends that they haven’t seen in forever. Call is a reunion!

Do Kirsty Gray and I look like we’re about to get into mischief?

Behind me is the first group of folks to be interviewed.

Pat Richley-Erickson, aka Myrt, Cheryl Hudson Passey, Laura Wilkinson Hedgecock, and Jenny Horner Hawran.

This is the livestream room at the FamilySearch Library. The waiting area for the next group is to the right, and the three presently being interviewed are sitting on the left beside Myrt.

For those who know Gordon, aka Mr. Myrt, he’s coordinating interviewees outside the livestream room. His job is herding cats and he’s the nicest cat-herder you’ll ever meet!

Pre-RootsTech Library Research

I love the FamilySearch Library. It feels like coming home to me.

So many passionate genealogists at every level – learning and searching. Lots of volunteer helpers available, too.

Normally, I create a research plan for the library, but I had been so utterly slammed between preparing my several RootsTech sessions and the Mitotree release that I hadn’t really been able to prepare anything.

I did, however, have a group of ancestors in mind that settled in the Oley Valley in Pennsylvania, so I decided to focus on the Berks County books.

I won’t bore you with the details, but among other things, I found confirmation that the Hoch surname is also the same as High and Hoy, which explains some very confusing Y-DNA results. So even though I didn’t get much productive time there, I did find something very useful in the land records.

I also ran into cousins and friends, of course, which is why I didn’t get more actual research done.

I knew Judy Nimer Muhn, at left, was going to be at RootsTech as a speaker, and I knew we connected through Acadian lines, but we never took the time to really piece together that puzzle.

My cousins, Mark and Manny were also coming for RootsTech, and to visit the library, for the first time. Mark, Manny and I visited Nova Scotia together in the summer of 2024, chasing our ancestors.

You know, fate is a funny thing.

We all descend from Acadian, Francois Savoie who was born about 1621 in France, but settled in Acadia, today’s Nova Scotia. Mark, Manny and I knew that we are cousins through Francois, but Judy and I did not. Mark, Manny and I ran into a local historian, Charlie Thibodeau, the Acadian Peasant, last year, outside of Port Royal. It just so happened that he was taking another couple to see the remains of the Savoie homestead deep in the salt marshes at BelleIsle.

We asked if we could join them, and Charlie was kind enough to include us. It was a long, brutally hot, tick-infested hike through the swamp, but oh so worth it!

We also found the well, located between three homesteads.

The year before, Judy had been in the same place in Nova Scotia, found the same man, Charlie, at the BelleIsle Hall Acadian Cultural Centre, and he had taken her to the remains of the same homestead.

And here we all four are in Utah.

What are the chances?

Needless to say, we had a LOT to talk about, and still do. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get to Judy’s talk, but Mark and Manny attended.

I ran into Katy Rowe-Schurwanz, the FamilyTreeDNA Product Manager at the library too, and look what she’s wearing – a mitochondrial DNA scarf. How cool is that!

The rest of Tuesday and most of Wednesday morning were spent trying to update my several presentations to reflect newly released information by various vendors and practicing the timing of the presentations. I had another interview, and more people were arriving.

I found time to visit Eva’s Bakery about 3 blocks from the Salt Palace. If you’re ever in Salt Lake City, Eva’s is a must! Lunch is wonderful, and so are their French pastries.

Wednesday is “tech prep” day at RootsTech, along with speaker instructions and then the Speaker Dinner.

Steve Rockwood, President and CEO of FamilySearch always delivers an inspirational message and this year did not disappoint.

If you’ve wondered about RootsTech conference stats, they provided this information. I can’t even imagine trying to coordinate all of this – and that’s not including the vendors, expo hall, technology in the presentation rooms, food, security and so much more.

Last year, in 2024, the final attendance numbers were more than 16,000 people in person and 4 million virtual attendees. I noticed a few days ago that there were more than half a million people participating in Relatives at RootsTech, which is still live until April 12th.

On Wednesday evening, after the Speaker’s Dinner, vendors in the Expo Hall were putting the final touches on their booths and preparing for the thousands of excited genealogists who would descend Thursday morning.

Discover

This year’s RootsTech theme was “discover” and attendees were greeted with this display just inside the door.

Attendees listed their discoveries on Post-its and could either post them on the board or plastic boxes, or on the green tree.

I placed my discovery from the day before at the library on the Rootstech tree.

Some people place their wishes here, kind of like a technology wishing well.

I couldn’t help but think of the new Mitotree, now forever green and growing, so I posted a second discovery, “Mitotree.”

Thursday – Opening Day

For those who don’t know, the Salt Palace Convention Center is two lengthy blocks long, a block wide, and two or three stories high, depending on whether you are in the front or rear portion. In other words, it’s massive and you need a map!

The huge Expo Hall with vendors is located in the center on the first floor and vendors have aisle addresses. The show floor is always very busy, and this year was no exception. One of the things I love is that spontaneous conversations just spring up between people who often find commonalities – common ancestors, common locations, and more. People compliment each other and join others at tables. It’s like a big family gathering of sorts.

I always try to walk the entire Expo Hall, because I really enjoy seeing the vendors and their wares, but this year, I never actually had enough time to traverse all the aisles. I took several pictures as I was passing through and running into people, but not nearly enough. I know I missed a lot, but there just wasn’t enough time and I arrived at RootsTech already tired.

However, the energy of RootsTech is like no place else and just infects you.

It’s like you can’t drink from the genealogy firehose fast enough!

Let’s Take a Walk

Ok, come along on a walk with me.

Left to right, Lianne Kruger, a speaker, and Courtney, in the FamilyTreeDNA booth. I believe they said they are cousins.

Daniel Horowitz, genealogist extraordinaire, in the MyHeritage booth. More about MyHeritage’s announcements shortly.

Geoff Rasmussen in the Legacy Family Tree Webinars booth. For those who don’t know, there’s lots of good material at Legacy, and the freshly recorded webinars are always free for a week.

Several vendors offer booth talks, including MyHeritage. I love their photo tools and use their site in some capacity almost daily.

One of the RootsTech traditions is ribbons. Collect one, collect ‘em all. Liv’s ribbons almost reach the floor. I think she wins!

Selfies are also a RootsTech tradition. Me, here with Jonny Perl of DNAPainter fame. I owe Jonny an apology as he asked me if I had a minute, and I had to say no because I was on the way to one of my own classes. I never got back to his booth to view his new features. Sorry Jonny – don’t take it personally!

Jonny released a new Ancestral tree version titled Places, so take a look here at his blog. I need to go look at my ancestors Places.

You’ll find this new feature under Ancestral Trees, Places. These are my most recent 8 generations. Just think of all those brave souls who climbed on a ship and sailed for the unknown. Check this feature out and have fun.

In a booth talk, Dave Vance, Executive Vice-President and General Manager at FamilyTreeDNA is speaking about the three types of DNA, which are, of course, Y-DNA, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA – all useful for genealogy in different ways.

Dave is explaining how in-common-with matches, also known as shared matches, operate with the chromosome browser. You can use the chromosome browser, shared matches, the new Matrix Tool, and download your match segment information at FamilyTreeDNA, a combination of features not available at any other vendor.

WikiTree, a free a moderated one-world-tree is one of my favorite genealogy tools. One of their best features is that you find your ancestor, and in addition to lots of sources, their Y-DNA, mitochondrial DNA, and those who are related autosomally are listed. Here’s my grandfather, for example.

Several DNA connections are listed. The further back in my tree, the more DNA connections are found, becuase those ancestors have more descendants.

WikiTree volunteers were wandering around taking pictures of “WikiTreers” holding fun signs.

Paul Woodbury, a long time researcher with Legacy Tree Genealogists, who specializes in DNA. I don’t take private clients anymore, and regularly refer people to Legacy Tree.

Me with Janine Cloud taking our annual RootsTech selfie. Janine, the Group Projects Manager at FamilyTreeDNA and I co-administer one of those projects and accidentally discovered a few years ago that we are cousins too. How fun is this!!!

I wanted this shirt, but by the time I got back to the booth, it was too late. I’m going to order it online from Carlisle Creations, in case you want one too. This is so me.

Land records are critically important to genealogists. Rebecca Whitman’s class was about plotting land plats. What she’s holding is a surveyor’s chain. You’ve read about chain carriers? This is what they carried to measure land boundaries – literally metes and bounds. Some of my best discoveries have been thanks to land records.

The only session I actually got to attend was Gilad Japhet’s “What’s New and Exciting at MyHeritage.” For those who don’t know, Gilad is the founder and CEO of MyHeritage and it’s always great to hear about the new features straight from the top executive who is, himself, a seasoned genealogist. That’s why he started MyHeritage in the first place – 22 years ago in his living room.

Gilad had several wonderful announcements, but the one I’m most excited about is their new Cousin Finder. Cousin Finder finds and reveals cousins who are DNA candidates if they have not yet taken a DNA test.

I’ll be writing more about the MyHeritage announcements soon, but you can read their blog about Cousin Finder now, here, and their Roundup here about the rest of their announcements!

My Last Class – Reveal Your Maternal Ancestors & Their Stories

My last class at the end of the final day of RootsTech was “Reveal Your Maternal Ancestors & Their Stories – Solving Mitochondrial DNA Puzzles.”

Had I tried to coordinate this presentation with International Women’s Day, I could never have done it, but fate winked and here I was.

I’m often asked what it’s like from the presenters’ perspective. This is one of the smaller ballrooms. My earlier sessions were in larger rooms, maybe 3 times this size. I took this picture about 15 minutes before the session started as people were beginning to drift in.

The amazing RootsTech techs had me wired up to microphones and had verified that the audio and video equipment was working correctly, so now it was just waiting.

My cousin, John Payne, who co-administers the Speaks surname project with me, came by and took this great picture of the two of us. We’ve made huge inroads connecting the various Speake(s) lines in America, plus finally proving our home village in England, thanks to the Big Y-700 test, followed by church records. All is takes, sometimes, is that one critical match.

As I sat there, waiting to begin the mitochondrial DNA session, I couldn’t help but reflect upon all of the women who came before me and how fortunate I was to have been in the right place at the right time to be a member of the Million Mito team.

These are my direct matrilineal ancestors who give me, and my daughter, pictured at left, their mitochondrial DNA. I felt them with me as I sat there, waiting.

The woman at furthest right, Barbara Drechsel (1848-1930), immigrated to Indiana from Germany as a child with her parents in the 1850s. Before her came thousands of generations of women with no photos, of course, and no names before Barbara Freiberger, another eight generations earlier, born about 1621 in Germany.

Before that, which was before church and other records, prior to the 30 Years War, this lineage came from Scandinavia where some of my exact matches are still found today.

Before beginning, I said a positive affirmation and thanked my ancestors – so very honored to introduce them. I know they were proud of me, a member of the team that opened the door to the distant past. I wouldn’t be here if not for every one of their lives.

In this session, I would discuss, for the first time ever, the new Mitotree and my/our connection to all of humanity some 7000 generations ago, more or less.

The mutations we carry over those generations form an unbroken chain of breadcrumbs, connecting us to mitochondrial Eve who lived about 145,000 years ago. We revealed that breakthrough finding in the Haplogroup L7 paper, published in 2022.

I’m still in absolute awe that we have been able to both reach that far back in time AND, at the same time, make the newest haplogroups and haplotype clusters genealogically relevant. I will write more about that soon, but for now, I wrote about the Mitotree release here and you can find articles by Katy Rowe-Schurwanz here and here.

I’m very excited about my new mitochondrial DNA results for my ancestral lines that I track and have already made headway on several.

I’m not the only one.

Not only was I excited about my results, many other people have had breakthroughs too, including Mark Thompson, one of our genealogy AI experts who also spoke at RootsTech. I particularly love his AI generated image.

If you haven’t yet, check your mitochondrial DNA results.

It’s a Wrap

Another year done, another RootsTech under our belts. Hopefully everyone is over the “conference crud” by now and are busily applying their newfound knowledge.

You can view either live-cast sessions or RootsTech webinars, here.

I saw a meme posted sometime during the conference that coined the term “exhausterwhelmulated,” a combination of exhausted, overwhelmed and overstimulated at the same time.

I added exhilarated and elated to the mix and asked ChatGPT to draw me a picture of someone at a genealogy conference feeling those simultaneous emotions.

ChatGPT titled this request “Genealogy Conference Overload,” which made me laugh.

The first two attempts looked like the person had a headache, which I fully understood, so I asked ChatGPT to make the person look happy to be there.

This person, carrying a coffee like I often do, looks like they have just discovered the great irony that they have chased the wrong ancestor for some 20 years – with “laugh or I’ll cry” mania being their overwhelm “go to” in that minute.

This one made me laugh too!

Yes, indeed, I think every single one of us, especially at RootsTech, has experienced this exact adrenaline-fueled emotion.

We leave with a VERY long to-do list, exhausted but full of anticipation and buoyed by excitement. Filled with so much gratitude for our cousins and fellow genealogists, the speakers, vendors, DNA to solve thorny problems, new tools and records, FamilySearch who sponsors RootsTech itself and their amazing employees, plus the legions of the volunteers who make it all work.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

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Mitotree is Born

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Mitotree is born and I can hardly contain my excitement.

The Million Mito R&D team members, along with many others at FamilyTreeDNA, are proud to introduce the new Mitotree and mtDNA Discover, which were brought to life thanks to one pivotal entrepreneurial figure, Bennett Greenspan, whose support and vision set the ball in motion and made Mitotree possible.

Left to right, the Million Mito science team is:

  • Goran Runfeldt, Head of R&D at FamilyTreeDNA
  • Dr. Paul Maier, Senior Population Geneticist at FamilyTreeDNA
  • Roberta Estes, DNAexplain, scientist, blogger, author, genetic genealogist, and Genographic Affiliate Researcher
  • Dr. Miguel Vilar, Genetic Anthropologist, Lead Scientist with the Genographic Project, and Professor at the University of Maryland
  • Bennett Greenspan, President Emeritus of FamilyTreeDNA, and avid genealogist
  • John Detsikas, Front End Developer who is responsible for the user interface for both Y-DNA Discover and now mtDNA Discover

The Million Mito Project Inception

The Million Mito Project was launched at RootsTech 2020 and encouraged people to test their mitochondrial DNA, both for their genealogy and to help build the database. More than a million samples were candidates, but only high-quality, full sequence results were used. In the process of building the tree, additional samples were incorporated from other public sources for tree construction.

Drum Roll – The Mitotree

A beta version of the Mitotree is being released today, and boy, is this a big deal.

Before we discuss the rest of what’s coming, I need to mention that the Mitotree is now evergreen, meaning that the tree will be updated periodically, as will mtDNA Discover. This lifetime value is included with the cost of your test, so there’s nothing more to purchase.

Haplogroups will change from time to time, as the tree does, so don’t fall in love with yours, and definitely, no tattoos😊

I’m going to be speaking in terms of “we,” meaning the Million Mito team who built the Mitotree and mtDNA Discover, plus an amazing team of FamilyTreeDNA folks who were absolutely essential in getting this out the door and to you.

The Mitotree is new from the ground up, and yes, haplogroup naming consistency with PhyloTree has been maintained where possible.

One of the unanticipated challenges we encountered was that the 2016 PhyloTree had to be recreated, essentially reverse engineered, to determine the rules they used regarding mutations for haplogroup creation. In other words, which mutations were valid and reliable, which weren’t, determining their relative importance, and so forth.

After the existing 2016 tree was recreated, the next hurdle to overcome was that none of the existing phylogenetic software used in academia would scale from 24,000 samples and 5500 subclades to more than a quarter million samples and 40,000 haplogroups, so that software had to be designed and written by R&D team members.

More information about this process will be forthcoming shortly, and a paper will be published with our methodology, but for right now, let’s look at the user experience and what’s being released now.

Here’s what’s coming today and over the next few days.

The beta Mitotree includes:

  • Over 40,000 branches
  • Over 250,000 mtFull Sequences from FTDNA
  • Over 10,000 third-party full sequences from GenBank, 1000 Genomes, etc.
  • Over 1000 Ancient Connections
  • Over 100 Notable Connections

More is on the way.

The new Mitotree is the tree provided in several formats within mtDNA Discover. You can view the public version of the tree, here, or sign on to your FamilyTreeDNA account and click through from your dashboard to see more.

Today’s Releases

The Mitotree doesn’t exist in a vacuum, so several updates and new features will be rolling out today.

  • mtDNA Discover, which includes the new Mitotree
  • New customer haplogroups for those who have taken mtFull sequence tests
  • New mtDNA matches page

New Haplogroups

New haplogroups have been calculated for FamilyTreeDNA customers who have taken the full sequence test. Those who have taken only the HVR1 or HVR1/HVR2 tests are encouraged to upgrade to the full sequence test.

Not everyone will receive a new Mitotree haplogroup that is different from their classic haplogroup, but most people will. Your original haplogroup is displayed with the classic tag, and the new Mitotree haplogroup with the beta tag.

If your classic and Mitotree haplogroups are the same, it means that either you have no more private variants (mutations) available to form a new haplogroup, or no one else from your lineage has tested yet.

New mtDNA Matches Page

If you click on your mtDNA matches, you’ll notice that the page has been redesigned to look and function like the other FamilyTreeDNA match pages.

If you click to view your matches, you’ll be able to view both the “old” classic haplogroup, and your matches’ new Mitotree haplogroup, plus a new haplotype if they have one. We will talk about haplotypes in a minute.

The people you match are the same as before, but matches may be recalculated in the future.

If you click through to the new mtDNA Discover from your dashboard, you’ll be able to view the public portion of mtDNA Discover, plus the additional customized information provided to FamilyTreeDNA mtFull sequence customers.

mtDNA Discover

If you have taken a full sequence test, sign on to your account to view your new haplogroup, then click on the new mtDNA Discover icon on your dashboard.

If you haven’t taken the mtFull sequence test, but the partial HVR1 or HVR2 versions, you can still view mtDNA Discover on your dashboard, but without the mtFull customization.

Customization that occurs exclusively for FamilyTreeDNA mtFull sequence customers includes:

  • Most detailed placement of your branch on Mitotree
  • Haplotype clusters
  • Additional Ancient Connections
  • Additional Notable Connections
  • The Match Time Tree
  • Globetrekker™ (coming soon)
  • The Group Time Tree (coming soon)

mtDNA Discover is similar to Y-DNA Discover.

You’ll be able to view a dozen new reports about your haplogroup in addition to the tools provided on your dashboard.

The new Mitotree can be viewed in several formats, each with its unique benefit.

  1. Time Tree – a genetic tree that shows when each haplogroup was formed, plus a country flag for where present-day testers report as the location of their earliest known ancestor (EKA)
  2. Classic Tree – a more traditional view of a phylogenetic tree, including the number of testers on each branch, the variants, or mutations that define the haplogroup, the era and approximate date of formation, and other details about the tree topology
  3. Scientific Details Variants Tab – shows the variants that differ in each haplogroup as you reach back in time
  4. Ancestral Path for the selected haplogroup – outlines your path back to early humans, including Denisovans.
  5. Match Time Tree for you and your matches (must be signed in to your account and click on mtDNA Discover icon)
  6. Group Time Tree (coming soon) for those who have joined projects

Match Time Tree

The Match Time Tree is extremely useful because it overlays your matches, plus their earliest known ancestors (EKA), on a genetic Time Tree, by haplogroup and haplotype, so you can see how you may be related, and when.

You can also see your matches that have now fallen into neighboring haplogroups, which suggests that they probably aren’t as genealogically close as people in your haplogroup. However, that’s not always the case, because mutations can occur at any time.

Haplotype Clusters

A haplotype cluster is a new concept introduced specifically for genealogists with the new Mitotree. Haplotypes are identified by numbered “F” groups. Three are shown, below.

There may be groups of people within a haplogroup that have exactly the same mutations, or genetic signature, and no additional mutations. Still, they may not form a new haplogroup. There could be several reasons for not forming a new haplogroup, including known SNP locations where mutations occur that are known to be unstable, such as location  315, which tends to accumulate random insertions and is ignored because of its known instability.

When multiple people share an exactly identical signature, meaning all of the same mutations, they are shown within a haplotype “F” cluster to provide additional specificity to the tree.

The haplotype has been designed to provide additional granularity to the tree and genealogically relevant information. The haplotype “Fxxxxxx” numbers are randomly generated and have no special meaning.

A word of caution here. While the haplotype sequences are identical, it is still possible that another tester from outside the cluster could be a closer relative. For example, they could have accumulated a fast mutating SNP in the last few generations, which would give them a different signature.

Someone who is actually genealogically close to you may be in a different haplotype, or no haplotype at all because no one matches them exactly. For example, if your aunt or sister has a heteroplasmy, they are a close relative and will be in your haplogroup, but won’t be in your haplotype cluster because of the heteroplasmy. So don’t ignore matches who aren’t in your haplotype.

In the above example, under haplogroup V71b, there is one group of three people of unknown origin, meaning they didn’t enter any location for their earliest known ancestor, plus haplotype F9712482 – all of whom are identical matches to each other, but don’t form a new haplogroup.

Beneath V71b is haplogroup V71b1 with nine people, plus two haplotype clusters. F1965416 consists of two people, and F8189900 consists of 16 people.

You can also see haplotype clusters bracketed on any of the Time Trees in mtDNA Discover as well.

More to Come

There’s more information to come in the next few days and weeks, and at RootsTech. I’ll be writing articles when I get back.

For now, take a look to see if you have a new haplogroup. The new haplogroup rollout is being staggered, and you should receive an email when yours has been posted. But there’s no need to wait. Go ahead, sign in and check now, check out mtDNA Discover, and have fun.

Guaranteed, you’ll learn something new, and you may discover the key to a new ancestor!

Resources

Here are additional resources about the new Mitotree, mtDNA Discover, and the associated updates:

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I receive a small contribution when you click on some of the links to vendors in my articles. This does NOT increase your price but helps me keep the lights on and this informational blog free for everyone. Please click on the links in the articles or to the vendors below if you are purchasing products or DNA testing.

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Lineages Versus Ancestors – How to Find and Leverage Yours

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Today, we’ll explore how a single direct test can uncover insights into an entire ancestral lineage, shifting our focus from individual ancestors to the broader concept of lineages.

When we work with either Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA, we’re using a type of DNA that is specific to one ancestral line – or lineage. However, it’s not limited to just one ancestor. In fact, it applies to many.

Autosomal DNA, on the other hand, can be and is inherited from multiple ancestral lines. Of course, autosomal DNA is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle because YOU have to figure out WHICH line is the source of your match to someone.

You don’t have to do that with Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA, plus, there’s a LOT more information available about both of those types of DNA.

Inheritance – How Parts of Your Ancestors Descend to You

I’ve put together a chart to explain the difference in the amount of autosomal DNA that you inherit from your ancestors versus the amount of either Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that you inherit from specific lineages of ancestors.

Generation Autosomal Ancestors % DNA # Ancestors Y (males) & mtDNA Ancestors – %
7 GGGG-grandparents 1.5625 64 1 – 100%
6 GGG-grandparents 3.125 32 1 – 100%
5 GG-grandparents 6.25 16 1 – 100%
4 Great-grandparents 12.5 8 1 – 100%
3 Grandparents 25 4 1 – 100%
2 Parents 50 2 1 – 100%
1 You 100 1 – 100%

If you look at the amount of autosomal DNA inherited from each ancestor back seven generations, with you as the first generation, you’ll see that, on average, each of your GGGG-grandparents contributes 1.5625% of their DNA to you. In some cases, you might receive none at all, and in other cases, you might receive more – thanks to the uncertainty of recombination in each generation which I explained, here.

That’s not the case, though, for either Y-DNA (for males) or mitochondrial DNA for everyone. You always inherit 100% of the mitochondrial DNA carried by the entire lineage of your direct maternal line ancestors. Males always inherit 100% of the Y chromosome of their direct paternal line ancestors. Neither type of DNA is divided, recombined, or washed out over the generations. With the exception of an occasional mutation, the Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA that your most distant ancestor in that line inherited is exactly what you receive.

Everyone can test their mitochondrial DNA, and males can take the Y-DNA test. Women give their mitochondrial DNA to both sexes of their children, but only females pass it on.

While you can only test for your own direct lines, you can test other people for their lineages which are also your ancestors.

Test Family Members

By testing family members who descend appropriately, you can obtain that same information for any ancestor.

For example, your father can test his mitochondrial DNA to receive the mitochondrial DNA information for his mother’s direct matrilineal line, or lineage. If you’re a female, having your father test both his Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA provides you with valuable information about two ancestral lines that you can’t obtain from your own DNA.

Your mother’s brothers (or paternal uncles) can test their Y-DNA for your mother’s father’s line, and so forth.

Y-DNA is always the direct patrilineal line for males, and mitochondrial DNA is always the direct matrilineal line for everyone, so males can provide the DNA for both types of DNA for their ancestors. Men carry both types of DNA, the Y-DNA of their father and the mitochondrial DNA of their mother.

Lineages

The great news is that once you obtain that information by locating an appropriate tester, it’s conclusive in the sense that you typically don’t need to find someone else in that line to test – especially if they match someone else who descends from an ancestor in that same line. I say typically because, especially with Y-DNA, you may well want to test multiple men in different generations to track mutations that identify twigs and even leaves on their haplotree branch.

Essentially, both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA represent entire lineages, not just individual ancestors.

Once you obtain that information, you can:

  • Identify ancestors further back in time
  • Confirm lineages
  • Disprove lineages
  • Learn when your common ancestors with other testers lived
  • Learn where your ancestors and their ancestors lived
  • Discover which ancient and notable people you’re related to
  • Utilize match maps
  • And more

Click on any image to enlarge

There’s an entire world of information just waiting to be revealed – beyond matching for both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA and the half dozen great tools provided on your dashboard at FamilyTreeDNA.

The free Discover tool (currently for Y-DNA but very soon for mitochondrial too) provides a dozen extra reports. Between your dashboard reports and the Discover reports, there are about 20 chapters to your lineage story waiting for you.

There’s even a customized Discover experience for Big Y-DNA testers and full sequence mitochondrial DNA testers.

If you take the Big Y-700 test or the full sequence mitochondrial DNA test, your Discover experience includes:

  • Globetrekker
  • More Ancient Connections
  • More Notable Connections
  • The Match Time Tree
  • If you join projects, the Project Time Tree

For my Estes research, the Match Time Tree and Project Time Trees have been critically important.

Time Trees provide a genetic structure for how you and your matches are related over time. In the Match Time Tree above, you can see how my cousin is related to his matches, and when important branching of the tree that defines lineages occurred. The earliest known ancestors (EKA), provided by testers, are shown as well. This branching information correlated within 25 years of the births of the ancestors whose DNA split those branches.

For example, the mutation, R-ZS3700 was formed when Moses Estes was born in 1711 and was then passed to his descendants. If you test as a member of haplogroup R-ZS3700, we know you descend from Moses Estes. Some of his descendants have downstream haplogroups too, such as R-BY154184.

The Group Time Tree shows the same type of things but for members within Group Projects.

It’s truly exciting what lineage tests can reveal and how they can demolish brick walls.

Finding Testers

After you’ve exhausted your supply of close family members, then known aunts, uncles and cousins, how do you find testers to represent your lineages?

Most of us don’t know our third or fourth cousins, but they may carry that golden DNA that represents that entire lineage.

I’ve written about using both Relatives at RootsTech and WikiTree to find people who descend appropriately from the line you seek, but you’ll be most productive if you get organized first.

Let’s begin with organizing your lineages. Since this type of DNA is passed through that entire line of ancestors, you want to have those ancestors gathered together so it’s easy to find someone who has descended from any of those ancestors in that lineage appropriately.

For Y-DNA, that means each direct male line, and for mitochondrial DNA, that means every matrilineal line.

Lineage Spreadsheet

In my Ancestor Birthday Spreadsheet, where I track pertinent information about each of my ancestors individually, one row per ancestor, I created a lineage sheet for mitochondrial DNA and another one for Y-DNA. If you don’t want to create a spreadsheet, you can always make a chart or list.

It’s easier to recognize Y-DNA testing candidates because the surname (generally or often) doesn’t change.

Surnames generally do change in each generation in mitochondrial lineages.

Everyone can test their own mitochondrial DNA, so let me start with the tester (me) as an example. If I test my mitochondrial DNA, the results automatically apply to my ancestors in my direct matrilineal line – or lineage.

So, one test represents a dozen of my direct-line maternal ancestors. Your test represents however many ancestors you have on your direct matrilineal lineage.

Beginning with my mother, I’ve been able to track my matrilineal line beyond the six generations shown in my desktop genealogy software.

For purposes of clarity, while only six generations are displayed here, the entire lineage continues with Anna Elisabetha Mehlheimer on the next page. That line includes each female, mother-to-mother, as far back as I can go, consisting of all 12 generations.

I’ve entered all of those ancestors into their generational position in the first row on the Lineage Spreadsheet that begins with me.

Click any image to enlarge

The entire spreadsheet looks like these first few rows. I don’t expect you to read the small print. I just want you to get the idea so that you can follow the process.

The entire mitochondrial lineage of each “first of line” ancestor is shown in the “Upstream” generation columns at right. In other words, the person closest to current in the lineage is listed by last and first name (me), and all of their mitochondrial lineage ancestors are shown to their right.

My mother, Barbara Jean Ferverda is shown in the column “Upstream 1”, because she is one generation upstream from me, or the ancestor listed at far left. “Upstream 2” is her mother, Edith Barbara Lore, and so forth.

The haplogroup, once discovered, applies to ALL of those people – the entire lineage. Those ancestors don’t need to be shown on the spreadsheet again because you’ve checked them off the list when you find someone to represent all of them. Of course, in this case, that person is me.

My mitochondrial DNA represents 12 known generations, and countless unknown ones, some of which may yet be discovered. But there are other lineages that I need to discover that I can’t personally test for.

Identifying Lineages That You Need

I created this fan chart in my genealogy software and placed a red star for each pink mitochondrial DNA line that I need – beginning with the “first of line” ancestor. For example, Ollie Bolton is my “first of line” ancestor whose mitochondrial DNA represents all of her direct-line matrilineal ancestors.

Of course, each generation back in time provides more ancestors whose DNA we need – including each male who carries the mitochondrial DNA of his mother.

By the way, if I only have a partial haplogroup from either an autosomal test that provides base haplogroups, or a predicted haplogroup from an older HVR1 or HVR1/2 test, I leave them in the “need” category. In other words, I’m still seeking a full-sequence tester.

I started with each female in my tree and created their lineage backward in my spreadsheet.

More Distant Ancestors in Your Tree

My genealogy software shows a maximum of 6 generations on one page.

When I reached the point in my tree where I needed to go to the “next page,” other lineages began there. I began losing my place, so I color-coded the lineages in my spreadsheet so I could identify them at a glance. Additionally, the red-colored text indicates that the line begins with a female, and the black text means that the line “bookmark” begins with that man’s mother. Remember, every man had a mother whose mitochondrial DNA we need as part of that family’s story.

The “bookmark” ancestor is the person where I was when I advanced to the next “page” in my genealogy software, so I don’t lose my place.

You can see that Johanna Fredericka Ruhle is the bookmark ancestor for Maria Margaretha Krafft. Johanna Ruhle’s direct line is listed in the Upstream columns for her, and Maria Margaretha Krafft’s direct line is listed in the upstream columns for her. Please note that Maria Margaretha Krafft is NOT in the direct matrilineal line for Johanna Ruhle, but a different lineage that I need.

In my desktop genealogy software, Johanna Fredericka Ruhle is the last person in her line on page one. She’s the bookmark that leads to the next page, so I need to begin with her on page 2.

Now Johanna is the first person on the next page, with her pedigree chart showing. You can see that Johanna’s OWN mitochondrial lineage continues through Margaretha Kurtz (red arrow), but this page also includes 11 NEW mitochondrial lineages that begin with a female in each line.

Maria Margaretha Krafft’s lineage is labeled as #11 here.

If your bookmark or “page turn” individual is a male, then he goes in your bookmark field so you can figure out how to get that lineage in the first place. Bookmarks are kind of like breadcrumbs.

You don’t need to worry about “page 2” and more distant if you are just beginning.

However, this process will encourage you to check each end-of-line individual. As you search, you’ll know that when you find descendants of any one of these people, their mitochondrial DNA test will represent all of the ancestors in that entire lineage.

Find One, Get the Entire Dozen! BOG12

BOGO might be an American saying, and it means Buy One Get One, so essentially two for the price of one. In my case, it was buy one test, get information for 12 ancestors, or BOG12.

So, find one tester/haplogroup and get that information for the entire lineage! In my case, I got 12 for the price of one.

In Johanna Fredericka Ruhle’s case, she is the grandmother of Evaline Miller, my mother’s grandmother. Evaline Miller’s line includes 8 generations, so when I found someone who carried Evaline’s mitochondrial DNA, it applied to all 8 generations of her direct matrilineal ancestors – BOG8. The great news is that it doesn’t have to come from a descendant of Evaline herself, it can come from a direct female descendant of, say, Margaret Elisabeth Lentz, or her mother, Johanna Fredericka Ruhle – or more distant in the tree.

More distant ancestors may have more descendants that carry their Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA.

You can see that in my desktop software (and only there,) I’ve added Evaline’s mitochondrial haplogroup as a middle name. I don’t ever do this in a public tree because it confuses the search algorithm. Besides that, haplogroup names evolve and change over time as the phylogenetic trees become more specific.

Follow That Line

For purposes of this exercise, let’s use one of my lineages to see if I can find someone who descends appropriately from either that ancestor, through all females to the current generation, or from any of her matrilineal ancestors upstream.

Let’s use Curtis Benjamin Lore’s mother as an example. His mother was Rachel Levina Hill, so that lineage begins with her since only females pass mitochondrial DNA to their offspring.

I’m going to search for someone who carries the mitochondrial DNA of Rachel.

Rachel is the fourth generation back from me, and according to my lineage spreadsheet, there are a total of 11 generations from me to the last person in her direct mitochondrial lineage.

  • Rachel Levina Hill – (born 1815 Addison Co., VT, died after 1870 Warren Co., PA, married Antoine “Anthony” Lore)
  • Abigail “Nabby” Hall – (born 1792 Mansfield City, Tolland Co., CT, died 1874 Waukegan, Lake Co., IL, married Joseph Hill)
  • Dorcas Richardson – (born 1769 Willington, Tolland Co., CT, died c 1840 Addison Co., VT, married Gershom Hall)
  • Dorcas Eldredge – (born 1739 Mansfield City, Tolland Co., CT, died 1772 Willington, Tolland Co., CT, married James Richardson)
  • Abigail Smith – (born 1718 Massachusetts, died 1793 Willington, Tolland Co., CT, married Jesse Eldredge)
  • Abigail Freeman – (born 1693 Eastham, Barnstable Co., MA, died 1737 Wellfleet, Barnstable Co., MA, married Samuel Smith)
  • Mary Howland – (born 1665 Dartmouth, RI, died 1743 Eastham, Barnstable Co., MA, married Nathaniel Freeman)
  • Abigail (surname unknown) – (born about 1635, married October 1656 to Zoeth Howland)

In order to obtain Rachel Levina Hill’s mitochondrial DNA, I need to find someone who descends from either her or her matrilineal lineage ancestors through all females to the current generation, which can be male. Women give their mitochondrial DNA to both sexes of their children, but only females pass it on.

In order to be “safe,” meaning less likelihood of a genealogical error, I prefer to find two descendants through different children who match each other. However, to begin, I’m always happy to locate any one descendant. They may match someone from this line who has already tested.

This is a good place to insert a cautionary note about the accuracy of other people’s genealogy. Always verify as best you can that the person you’re relying on for a critical test actually descends appropriately from the ancestor whose DNA you seek.

Autosomal Match List

When searching for testers, I always check my own autosomal match list first to be sure someone with that surname or who descends from that ancestor isn’t already lurking there. That includes both ThruLines at Ancestry and Theories of Family Relativity at MyHeritage.

It’s not always easy to tell because, at most vendors, you can’t search for (mitochondrial or other) matches by ancestor.

However, I enter the various surnames, beginning with the closest first, to see if maybe the right person is already there. The further back in time, the less likely you’ll have an autosomal match from any ancestor.

After you view one of your matches’ trees and determine that they are NOT an appropriate tester for what you seek, be sure to make a note on that match so you don’t check over and over again. You can make notes at every vendor on your matches.

FamilyTreeDNA Projects

If you’re searching for a particular surname, especially a Y-DNA lineage, checking the surname Group Projects at FamilyTreeDNA is always a wonderful first step to see if someone has already tested.

You can check group projects for surnames here.

Unfortunately, due to generational surname changes, surname projects often aren’t relevant to mitochondrial DNA lineages, although there are some lineage projects. If your ancestor is connected to a particular group of people, like the Acadians, for example, you can search or browse that group. The Acadian project and some others have both mitochondrial DNA and Y-DNA pages.

The Group Project search results will show any project where the administrators have entered that surname as potentially of interest to that specific project, so always check that resource.

WikiTree

Next, I go to WikiTree. If someone enters their mitochondrial DNA information, WikiTree propagates it through the tree to the appropriate descendants and ancestors. I love this feature.

Let’s see what we find for Rachel Levina Hill.

Look here!!!

Tim Prince has entered his mitochondrial DNA haplogroup, which was automatically associated with Rachel. It’s my lucky day. She is haplogroup H2a2a1e.

I can click through to Tim and view his tree.

Sure enough, Tim’s ancestor is Bathshua Smith, the sister to my Abigail Smith, four generations upstream from Rachel Levina Hill.

How cool is this?!!!

If no one is listed for Rachel’s mitochondrial DNA, I can click on the Descendants link on any ancestor, then click on DNA Descendants.

Next, click on which type of DNA you’re looking for.

At this point, I’d suggest contacting the profile owner or checking your autosomal matches for people with these surnames—in this case, Wickwire or Chain. You can also view the entire descendants list, which I’ve truncated here for brevity.

Relatives at RootsTech

While you can check WikiTree anytime, you can only access Relatives at RootsTech for a short time, typically about a month before and after RootsTech  – which means right now. Signing up for free virtual attendance works just fine as your key to accessing Relatives at RootsTech.

I wrote about Relatives at RootsTech here. Once you’re set up, you can access your list of cousins attending RootsTech by:

  • Location
  • Ancestor
  • Family Line

By selecting “Ancestor,” I can see who is attending that descends from Rachel Hill, according to the FamilySearch tree. Scanning further down the list, I see her mother, Abigail “Nabby” Hall. Two people descend from Rachel, while 3 descend from Abigail.

By clicking on “Relationship,” you can see how you and that person are related. In this case, what I’m really interested in is how they descend from Rachel Lavina Hill.

Rachel contributed her mitochondrial DNA to her son, William, but he didn’t pass it on, so that mitochondrial DNA line stops right there. If it hadn’t stopped there, it would have stopped a few generations later with another male – Gladys’s son.

Any male in the line is a blocker for mitochondrial DNA, unless it’s a current generation tester who descends from all females.

Sometimes, when the line is interrupted by a male in the last couple of generations, it’s worth reaching out to that cousin to see if they know of anyone who descends appropriately. Ask if the last female in the line has daughters or sons who are still living and might be willing to test – or if their daughters had children and so forth.

Each Relatives at RootsTech selection shows a maximum of 300 people, but you can choose the applicable grandparent’s family line to see 300 people in that line. You’ll need to click through each person to see how they descend, but that’s fine because you have 300 opportunities for success!!

Check back, too, because more people register up to and even during RootsTech.

Create Those Lineage Spreadsheets

Now, we’re back to why creating those lineage spreadsheets is essential. I don’t know about you, but I can’t remember exactly how family members descend from each other beyond 3 or 4 generations.

I actually need a tester from my paternal grandmother’s line, so I’m focusing on that line for this next example.

When I look at the list of who is related to me through my paternal grandmother’s line, I want that spreadsheet readily available, so I know precisely which lineages I need to find cousins to test for both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA.

I have a partial haplogroup for Ollie Bolton based on a very old HVR1 test. There is no DNA left to upgrade, and the tester is deceased, so I need to find someone else.

I’ve made a list of all of the women in that lineage. Unfortunately, it’s pretty short.

  1. Ollie Florence Bolton – (1874 born Hancock Co., TN, died 1955 in Chicago, married William George Estes)
  2. Margaret N. Claxton or Clarkson – (1851-1920 Hancock Co., TN, married Joseph Bolton)
  3. Elizabeth “Bettie Ann” Speaks – (1832 Lee County Va, died 1907 Hancock Co., TN, married Samuel Claxton/Clarkson)
  4. Ann McKee – (1804/5 Washington Co., VA, died 1840/1850 Lee Co., VA, married Charles Speak)
  5. Elizabeth (surname unknown) – (born about 1768, died 1839 Washington Co., VA, married Andrew McKee)

I’m brick-walled, so if I can obtain Ollie’s mitochondrial DNA, through matching, I may be able to identify Elizabeth, Ollie’s great-great-grandmother. This line is one of my most frustrating, and mitochondrial DNA testing and matching hold a lot of promise for giving Elizabeth a surname and parents.

I’ve already checked my matches and WikiTree, so I’m going to see if any of the “Family Line” Relatives at RootsTech descend through all females.

I have 300 opportunities to find a tester.

As more people sign up, the most distant cousins will roll off the list, so start at the bottom.

Cross your fingers for me!

DNA Testing Scholarships

If I find someone, the first thing I’ll ask is if they have taken any kind of DNA test. If so, where? Then, I’ll ask if they have taken a mitochondrial DNA test at FamilyTreeDNA and explain why that’s important and what it can potentially do for us.

If yes, I’m golden because the next question will be about their haplogroup, and I’ll invite them to join a project that I manage so I can view the results.

If the answer is no, but they’ve tested their autosomal DNA elsewhere, I’ll invite them to upload for free and join the project. You can also establish a private family project for this purpose, if you wish.

I tell them I have a DNA testing scholarship for someone who carries that DNA lineage. I explain that with the scholarship, the test is entirely free, including postage, and that they’re in complete control of their kit and results. All I ask is some level of access.

I always explain the results when they arrive. I’ve never had anyone object to this arrangement, and often we research collaboratively. I’ve met wonderful cousins this way.

Get Started!

Whose Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA do you need to find?

Make your lineage spreadsheet or chart, and take this opportunity to find a testing candidate and learn more about your ancestors! Not just one at a time, but entire lineages.

They are waiting for you!

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Great News – Both e-Pub and Print Version of “The Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA” Now Available Worldwide  

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  • Anyone, anyplace, can order the full-color, searchable, e-pub version of The Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA – Y-DNA, Mitochondrial, Autosomal and X-DNA from the publisher, Genealogical.com, here.
  • Customers within the US can order the black and white print book from the publisher, here.
  • Customers outside the US can order the print book from their country’s Amazon website. The publisher does not ship print books outside the US due to customs, shipping costs, and associated delays. They arranged to have the book printed by an international printer so that it can be shipped directly to Amazon for order fulfillment without international customers incurring additional expenses and delays. If you ordered the book previously from Amazon and a long delivery time was projected, that should be resolved now and your book should be arriving soon.

Comprehensive

This book is truly comprehensive and includes:

  • 247 pages
  • More than 267 images
  • 288 footnotes
  • 12 charts
  • 68 tips
  • Plus, an 18-page glossary

To view the table of contents, click here. To order, click here.

Thank you, everyone, for your patience and your support.

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Share the Love!

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If you haven’t already subscribed (it’s free,) you can receive an e-mail whenever I publish by clicking the “follow” button on the main blog page, here.

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I receive a small contribution when you click on some of the links to vendors in my articles. This does NOT increase your price but helps me keep the lights on and this informational blog free for everyone. Please click on the links in the articles or to the vendors below if you are purchasing products or DNA testing.

Thank you so much.

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Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA Released in Hardcopy

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Just what many of you have been waiting for! The hardcopy print version of the Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA has just been released.

As shown in the table of contents below, The Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA contains lots of logically organized information! It includes basic education about genetic genealogy and how it works, instructions on using the FamilyTreeDNA tests and tools, plus an extensive glossary.

Enjoy!

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Share the Love!

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If you haven’t already subscribed (it’s free,) you can receive an e-mail whenever I publish by clicking the “follow” button on the main blog page, here.

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I receive a small contribution when you click on some of the links to vendors in my articles. This does NOT increase your price but helps me keep the lights on and this informational blog free for everyone. Please click on the links in the articles or to the vendors below if you are purchasing products or DNA testing.

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Announcing: The Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA; Y-DNA, Mitochondrial, Autosomal and X-DNA

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I’m so very pleased to announce the publication of my new book, The Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA – Y-DNA, Mitochondrial, Autosomal and X-DNA.

For the first time, the publisher, Genealogical.com, is making the full-color, searchable e-book version available before the hardcopy print version, here. The e-book version can be read using your favorite e-book reader such as Kindle or iBooks.

Update: The hardcopy version was released at the end of May and is available from the publisher in the US and from Amazon internationally.

This book is about more than how to use the FamilyTreeDNA products and interpreting their genealogical meaning, it’s also a primer on the four different types of DNA used for genealogy and how they work:

  • Autosomal DNA
  • Mitochondrial DNA
  • Y-DNA
  • X-DNA

There’s a LOT here, as shown by the table of contents, below

This book is chocked full of great information in one place. As an added bonus, the DNA glossary is 18 pages long.

I really hope you enjoy my new book, in whatever format you prefer.

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Share the Love!

You’re always welcome to forward articles or links to friends and share on social media.

If you haven’t already subscribed (it’s free,) you can receive an e-mail whenever I publish by clicking the “follow” button on the main blog page, here.

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I receive a small contribution when you click on some of the links to vendors in my articles. This does NOT increase your price but helps me keep the lights on and this informational blog free for everyone. Please click on the links in the articles or to the vendors below if you are purchasing products or DNA testing.

Thank you so much.

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Why Don’t Our Y-DNA Haplogroups Match?

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I’ve been asked this question several times recently, and the answer is resoundingly, “it depends.” There are several reasons why Y-DNA haplogroups might not match and most of them aren’t “bad.”

How Haplogroups Work

Haplogroups are the 79,000+ branches of the Y-DNA phylogenetic tree which you can view here, along with countries where those haplogroups are found. You can think of haplogroups as genetic clans of either closely or distantly related men. Major haplogroup branches have unique letters assigned. Downstream or younger haplogroups are designated by a letter-number sequence that is always preceded by the main haplogroup letter.

Image courtesy FamilyTreeDNA

Major haplogroups were formed tens of thousands of years ago, with more recent haplogroups added as they’ve been discovered. Haplogroups are discovered and added every day thanks to the Big Y-700 test. You can read more about that process, here.

As you look at the pie chart above, you’ll notice that haplogroup R represents about half the men who have tested and has several major subbranches. Every haplogroup R man belongs to all of the branches above his own that lead back to the root of haplogroup R.

Using haplogroup R, which is R-M207, its identifying SNP, as an example, it immediately splits into two branches: R-M173, which has 37,000+ more branches, and R-M479, which has 313 branches. My Estes men fall into a haplogroup several steps beneath R-M173, but they are still members of haplogroups R-M173 and R-M207, even though their descendant haplogroup is R-BY490, which was formed by a mutation that occurred 20,000 years later.

Haplogroup R-M173, then, in turn, leads back to Y-Adam, the first man to have lived and has descendants today.

As we approach the question of why haplogroups of two men might differ, we will review tools to use and how to interpret your findings to reach the appropriate answer for your situation.

What is Your Goal?

You may be looking for a very specific answer, or this may be a more general question.

  • If you’re evaluating closely related men who have different haplogroup assignments, not matching can be very disconcerting. Breathe. There are several perfectly legitimate reasons why they may not match, and we have easy, free analysis tools.
  • If you’re looking at your Y-DNA match list at FamilyTreeDNA, you may or may not match other men closely, but you do “match” at some level if they are on your match list. You may see several different haplogroups in your match list. How closely you match those men is a different question.
  • If you’re looking at autosomal results at FamilyTreeDNA, you may see haplogroups listed for males. You may or may not “match” the haplogroup of men with the same surname. What does this mean, and why don’t you match? Your autosomal match may have nothing to do with your paternal line, or it may be because of your paternal line.

We will cover all of these scenarios.

Where Did You Both Test?

  • Are you comparing apples and apples?
  • Did you both test at the same company?
  • Did you both take the same type or level of test?

These factors all make a difference.

Which Test Did You Take?

There are four types of tests that will provide males with some level of Y-DNA haplogroup.

Autosomal Tests – Some companies include a few Y-DNA location probes in their autosomal test, meaning that they test a few haplogroup-specific Y-DNA locations. LivingDNA, 23andMe, and FamilyTreeDNA’s Family Finder test provide a mid-level Y-DNA haplogroup to customers. The haplogroup that can be determined from these tests depends on a variety of factors, including the vendor, the probes they selected for their chip, the test version, and if that location is successfully read in the test.

Note that FamilyTreeDNA supports autosomal uploads from MyHeritage and Ancestry who do not provide Y-DNA haplogroups to customers, but who do test some Y-DNA locations. Therefore you can upload your autosomal test from those companies to FamilyTreeDNA for free and receive at least a cursory Y-DNA haplogroup.

FamilyTreeDNA is currently processing all of its Family Finder tests, followed by tests uploaded from other vendors, to provide all genetic male testers with a Y-DNA haplogroup at some level. Different vendors and test versions test different Y-DNA SNPs, so your mileage may vary. Y-DNA haplogroups are a free benefit at FamilyTreeDNA.

STR Tests – At FamilyTreeDNA, you can purchase both Y-37 and Y-111 STR (short tandem repeat) Y-DNA tests that provide matching at the number of locations you purchased, plus a predicted haplogroup based on those results. These haplogroup predictions are accurate but are often relatively far back in time.

If you match someone on STR tests, your match may be very recent or before the advent of surnames. For a more specific haplogroup, you need to purchase the Big Y-700 test, which provides at least 700 STR match locations but, more importantly, sequences the entire gold-standard region of the Y-chromosome for the most precise haplogroup and matching possible.

  • When viewing matches of two men who ONLY took STR tests, STR marker matches are more important for genealogy than haplogroups because the haplogroups were formed thousands of years ago.
  • When viewing matches on the Big Y-700 test, haplogroup matching is much more specific and reliable than STR matches because the mutations (SNPs – single nucleotide polymorphisms) that form haplogroups are much more stable than STRs which mutate unpredictably, including back mutations.

SNP Confirmation Tests – Historically, FamilyTreeDNA customers could purchase individual SNPs to confirm a haplogroup, or SNP packs or bundles to do the same for a group of SNPs. With the advent of both the Family Finder haplogroup assignments, and the Big Y-700, these individual tests are no longer necessary or advantageous and are being discontinued.

Big Y-700 Test – At FamilyTreeDNA, the Big Y-700 test provides the most granular and specific haplogroup possible, most often well within a genealogical timeframe. You may be able to tell, based on previously undiscovered mutations, that two people are brothers or father and son, or, depending on who else has tested and when mutations formed, testers may match further back in time. Here’s an example of using the results from multiple testers in the Estes DNA Surname Project.

You can also match men who took the Big Y-500 test which is less specific than the Big Y-700. In the now-obsolete Big Y-500 test, a smaller portion of the Y chromosome was sequenced and testers only received about 500 STR locations. The Big Y-700 test has been enriched to provide a wider range of more specific information. Men who originally took the Big Y-500, then upgraded to the Big Y-700, will very probably have a new haplogroup assignment based on the expanded coverage and increased resolution of the Big Y-700 test. The Big Y-700 ferrets out lineages that the Big Y-500 simply could not, and continues to provide additional value as more men test, which facilitates the formation of new haplogroups.

What Do You Mean by Match?

Matching doesn’t mean you have to have the exact same haplogroup. A perfectly valid match can have a different haplogroup because one haplogroup is more specific or refined than the other. Matching exactly as a result of a predicted STR haplogroup is much less useful than matching closely on a much more recent Big Y-700 haplogroup.

Not all haplogroups are created equal.

I know this is a bit confusing, so let’s look at real-life examples to clarify.

STR to STR or Autosomal to Autosomal Haplogroup Match

Two males might match exactly on a mid-range Family Finder autosomal haplogroup or on a STR-predicted haplogroup like R-M269, which is about 6350 years old.

This haplogroup “match,” even though it might be exact, does not confirm a close match and really only serves to eliminate some other haplogroups and confirm that a closer match is possible. For example, R-M269 men don’t match someone in haplogroup J or E. You may or may not share a surname. You may or may not still “match” if you both upgrade to the Big Y-700.

In this case, a father/son pair would match exactly, as would two men with different surnames whose common ancestor lived 6000 years ago.

Note that if you’re comparing autosomal-derived haplogroups across different vendor platforms, or even different DNA testing chip versions on the same platform, you may see two different haplogroups. Different vendors test different locations. Please note that second cousins and closer will always match on autosomal DNA, but relationships further back than that may not. Y-DNA very reliably reaches far beyond the capabilities of autosomal DNA due to the fact that it is never mixed with the DNA of the other parent – so it never divides or is watered down in time. When comparing two autosomally-generated haplogroups of men who are supposed to be closely related, always check their autosomal match results too.

Use the free Discover Tool to find various categories of information about any haplogroup, including its age. Take a look at R-M269 here.

Using Discover to Compare Haplogroups

You can always use the Discover tool to compare two haplogroups.

Go to Discover (or click through if you’re signed on to your FamilyTreeDNA Y-DNA page), then enter the first haplogroup you’d like to compare.

Click search to view information about that haplogroup.

On the menu bar, at left, click on Compare.

Add the second haplogroup.

I’m selecting E-M35, a completely different branch of the phylogenetic tree.

R-M269 was formed about 6350 years ago, while E-M35 was formed about 25,000 years ago. Their common ancestor was formed about 65,000 years ago. Clearly, these two paternal lineages are not related in anything close to a genealogical timeframe.

These two men would never match on an STR test, but could easily match on an autosomal test on any line OTHER than their direct paternal line.

Now let’s compare two haplogroups that are more closely related.

Haplogroup R-M222 is very common in Ireland, so let’s see how closely related it is to R-M269 which is very common in western Europe.

We see that R-M222 descends from R-M269, so there is no “other haplogroup” involved.

R-M222 was formed about 2100 years ago, around 4250 years after R-M269 was formed.

There are 17 steps between R-M222 and R-M269.

The bottom block shows the lineage from R-M269 back to Y-Adam.

How cool is this??!!

Big Y-700 to Autosomal or STR Haplogroup Comparison

Joe took the Big Y-700 test and discovered that he’s haplogroup R-BY177080.

Joe noticed that his son, who had initially taken an STR test, had been assigned haplogroup R-M269. Then, his son took a Family Finder test and his haplogroup changed to R-FGC8601.

Joe was confused about why he and his son’s haplogroups didn’t match.

First, let’s check Family Finder to confirm the parent/child relationship. Joe’s son is clearly his son.

So why doesn’t Joe’s son’s haplogroup match Joe’s haplogroup? And why did Joe’s son’s haplogroup change?

Joe’s son had not taken a Big Y-700 DNA test, so Joe’s son’s R-M269 haplogroup was initially predicted from his STR test.

Joe’s son’s updated haplogroup, R-FGC8601 was generated by the Family Finder test. Think of this as a bonus. If you’re a male and haven’t yet, you’ll soon receive an email telling you that you’ve received a Family Finder Y-DNA haplogroup. It’s your lucky day!

Family Finder haplogroups always replace STR predicted haplogroups since they are always more specific than predicted STR haplogroups. Big Y-700 haplogroups always replace STR-generated haplogroup predictions and Family Finder haplogroups because they are the most specific.

Let’s compare these results using Discover.

Joe’s son’s original predicted haplogroup was R-M269.

Discover Compare shows us that Joe’s Big Y-700 Haplogroup, R-BY177080, is a descendant of R-M269.

So, they actually do “match,” just several branches further up the tree

Joe’s son’s more precise Family Finder haplogroup was assigned as R-FGC8601.

Discover Compare shows us that Joe’s Big Y-700 haplogroup also descends from R-FGC8601.

You can see that the haplogroup generated by Family Finder is more precise by about 4700 years and improves that comparison.

R-M269 was formed about 6350 years ago, but R-FGC8601 was formed about 1700 years ago.

Joe’s Big Y-700 haplogroup, R-BY177080 was formed about the year 1900, improving the family haplogroup by another 1600 years or so.

Joe’s son’s Family Finder haplogroup moved down the haplotree 21 branches and 4650 years, for free! If Joe’s son were to upgrade to the Big Y-700, they might very well be assigned a new haplogroup that, for the time being, only they share.

Of course, Family Finder doesn’t provide Y-DNA matching so you still need the Y-DNA tests for that important aspect of genealogy.

Big Y to Big Y Comparison

In our next example, a group of men, including a father and son or other very close relative may take the Big Y-700 test and have different haplogroups. If you’re saying, “Whoa Nelly,” hear me out.

George took a Big Y-700 test and discovered that he is haplogroup R-FGC43597. His son and grandsons tested, and they are haplogroup R-FTC50269. What happened? Shouldn’t they all match George?

On George’s Big Y-700 block tree, you can see that a mutation, R-FTC50269, occurred between George and his son. George doesn’t have it, but his son does.

A haplogroup isn’t “named” until there are two men with the same mutation in the same lineage. Therefore, when George’s son initially tested, he would have been assigned to the same haplogroup as George, R-FGC43697, but with one extra variant, or mutation.

Of course, that extra mutation was passed from George’s son to both of his grandsons, so when the first grandson tested, the new haplogroup, R-FTC50269 was assigned as a result of that mutation. Now, George has one haplogroup and his son and grandsons have a different haplogroup, one branch downstream.

Using Discover to check the haplogroup ages and path, we find that indeed, these haplogroups are only one step apart.

Checking Family Finder results can always verify that the match is close or as close as you expected.

Haplogroup Assignments

Haplogroup assignments range from good to better to best.

Good Better Best
STR predicted Yes – but further back in time
SNP Packs (now obsolete) Between good and better
Family Finder autosomal Yes – generally midrange between STR predicted and the Big Y-700
Big Y-500 (need to upgrade) Usually between better and best
Big Y-700 The best – usually within a genealogically relevant timeframe unless your DNA is rare

Where Are You?

Older haplogroups, such as the STR-predicted haplogroups are useful for:

  • Eliminating some potential matches
  • Identifying where that haplogroup originated at that specific point in time. In other words, where your ancestor lived when that haplogroup was born.

If your Y-DNA matches another Y-DNA tester at FamilyTreeDNA, your haplogroups will fall someplace on the same haplogroup branch, although they may be thousands of years apart. STR-predicted haplogroups are “older,” meaning they range in age from about 6500 years to tens of thousands of years ago. They can tell you where the haplogroup originated at that time.

Autosomal haplogroups will be newer, or more recent, than STR-predicted haplogroups, but still (sometimes significantly) older than the Big Y-700 haplogroups..

FamilyTreeDNA provides Y-DNA haplogroups for free for every biological male who either takes the FamilyTreeDNA Family Finder test or uploads an autosomal result from either Ancestry or MyHeritage. Soon, 23andMe uploads will be resumed as well. This means that you will be able to view other men with a similar surname in your Family Finder results and:

  • Rule them out as a paternal line match.
  • Check your STR matches if they have taken a Y-DNA test
  • Check your Big Y-700 test for matches if both men have taken a Big Y test.
  • Encourage your matches to take a Big Y-700 test so you can see how closely you match on your paternal line.
  • Use the Discover Compare and other tools to reveal more information.

Family Finder haplogroups are relatively new, so currently, all new Family Finder testers are receiving haplogroups. Older Family Finder tests are being processed and will be followed by autosomal tests uploaded from other vendors. Haplogroups from autosomal tests are confirmed and will be newer, or more recent, than STR-predicted haplogroups.

The only test that can bring your haplogroup to current, meaning the most refined, recent, personal haplogroup, is the Big Y-700 test. Without taking the Big Y-700 test, you’ll forever be stuck with an older, less informative haplogroup branch. The Big Y-700 allows us to reliably sort families into lineages based on branching mutations.

The Big Y-700 haplogroup is:

  • The most detailed and granular possible.
  • Determined by sequencing the Y chromosome.
  • A test of discovery that continues to provide additional value as more men test and new haplogroups are formed.

Big Y-700 haplogroups generally fall into a genealogically useful timeframe and can be very recent.

The Discover tool and Time Tree provide a wealth of information about your ancestors, including locations, migration paths, ancient DNA, and more.

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

Now that you understand how to compare and interpret haplogroup matches, what additional information can you learn?

I always encourage Y-DNA matches to upgrade to the Big Y-700. Why? You don’t know what you don’t know. The article, Bennett Greenspan: Meet My Extended Family & Discover Extraordinary Deep Heritage illustrates the benefits of the Big Y-700 for all matches. Upgrading 12-marker matches is exactly how he made his big breakthrough.

The Big Y-700 test answers many questions beyond simply matching by using Discover and the Group Time Tree.

  • Where were your ancestors?
  • Who do you match, and who were their ancestors?
  • Genetically and genealogically, how do your surname matches fit together?
  • Where were your matches’ ancestors, and when?
  • Which ancient DNA results do you match, and where were they located?
  • What is the history of locations where your ancestors were found along their journey?
  • How closely or distantly are you related to other Big Y-700 matches?
  • Can your matches’ information break down your paternal line brick wall, or at least move it back a few generations?

Where are your Y-DNA results along the spectrum of useful haplogroup information? Do you or your matches need to upgrade? Click here to upgrade or order a Big Y-700 test.

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Rootstech 2024: Friends, Discover Tools, Highways of History and the Storm

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5

I didn’t want to open the curtains Saturday morning, given the blizzard warnings that were worsening all day Friday.

I finally screwed up my courage and peeked out.

Indeed, those skies look dark, grey, and foreboding.

Decision Time

I had a decision to make.

I originally planned to stay in Salt Lake City until Sunday, but I had already changed my flight to late Saturday afternoon following my session. I also changed my hotel reservation accordingly.

However, if I packed and checked out, got to the airport, and my flight was canceled, I was likely going to be stranded, potentially at the airport for at least two days. There aren’t any hotels in the Salt Lake City airport, but there are a few nearby. However, probably not enough rooms to accommodate an airport full of stranded people.

Would Uber even be available?

Could I get back into Salt Lake City to check back into the Marriott or any other hotel? Would they have space?

I was at the go-no-go decision point.

It was probably a 50-50 roll of the dice.

I packed and checked out.

It wasn’t snowing yet, but no one doubted that it would. The only questions were when the snow would begin, whether it would begin as rain and freeze into ice before the snow started falling, and how much snow would there be.

Maybe more important to the people at RootsTech – what about flights?

All day, you could see people obsessively checking their flight information on their phones.

I had two speaking engagements scheduled for the day: a morning Y-DNA “Ask Me Anything” panel and my afternoon session, “Highways of History – Flesh out Your Ancestors Using Discover Case Studies.”

The afternoon session was scheduled to end just half an hour before RootsTech closed for the year, so there really was no getting out early.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

Friends in the Expo Hall

I was still trying to visit every booth on the show floor.

I’ll just admit right now that I failed miserably. Not only was I bone tired by this time, but I kept running into people I knew. I realized that this was my last opportunity to see them this year, so I never made it past the halfway point in the Expo Hall.

I did notice that the crowds were very thin. Saturday was Family Day, but apparently, not many people wanted to risk venturing out. Even the locals were concerned which is never a good sign.

The Heritage Theater had a full schedule of events, but there were very few people in the audience through no fault of the speakers or RootsTech.

For those hearty souls who did attend, they received up-close and personal sessions and information from the presenters.

It was nice to see the folks from Family Tree Magazine again. I’ve written for them off and on for years, but had never met the staff in person before.

Be sure to check out their Best Genetic Genealogy Websites and also their Genealogy Books Guide, listed by subject.

When you get there, check out their other “best of” categories and other topics.

Walking on down the aisle, I stopped to talk to the “One Kind Act a Day” people,

Being the skeptic that I am, I kept trying to find the hook, but I couldn’t. It’s a nonprofit that seems to do exactly what it says.

This is absolutely something I can sign up for, so I did and took the pledge.

Doing one kind act a day is easy, so let’s do two!

You can follow them on Facebook, too.

Reclaim the Records is another nonprofit that has successfully advocated and reclaimed more than 60 million records to date that were behind lock and key.

Take a look at their successes and their to-do list.

They style themselves as intellectual freedom fighters. Did you know so many records were still entirely unavailable?

Hey, isn’t that Myko Cleland sitting at the Reclaim booth, on the left? He’s the Director of Content in Europe for MyHeritage, nicknamed the DapperHistorian, and you just never know where you’re going to find him!

How cool is this? Wear What You Love uses sublimation dying to permanently print/infuse your photos on t-shirts or other materials.

This also works on fabric that can be used in quilts but more reliably on polyester fabrics, not cotton.

Hmmm, I have some ideas.

Y-DNA Ask Me Anything at FamilyTreeDNA

The Y-DNA “Ask Me Anything” session began at 10:30. I don’t think attendees realized that FamilyTreeDNA brought the R&D brain trust and you could literally ask them anything. What an opportunity!

Left to right, Michael Sager, FamilyTreeDNA’s well-known Y-DNA phylogeneticist, Dr. Paul Maier, seated, population geneticist, and Goran Runfeldt, standing at right, Head of R&D.

The team reviewed how to use Discover and what can be revealed.

Janine Cloud, Manager of Group Projects, is beside me in the black shirt, seated at far right. Group Projects are important tools for Y-DNA testing and testers.

In addition to the Discover Time Tree, shown on the screen above, a Group Time Tree shows Big Y project members as grouped by the volunteer administrators, along with their earliest known ancestors (EKA.)

Here’s an example from the Estes surname project that I administer. My grouping of participants is shown at left, the Time Tree in the center, and the locations with earliest known ancestors at right. Results are displayed in the order that they are phylogenetically related, helping genealogists immensely.

Here, the team is explaining the Block Tree which displays matches in a different format.

Men displayed together on the same Block Tree branch are more closely related to each other than to men displayed in other branches.

Michael Sager observes while Paul Maier demonstrates Globetrekker, an innovative interactive map that shows the path that one’s male ancestors took on their journey from Africa to where they are most recently found.

One of the attendees had a question and looks on as the team explains their results using Globetrekker.

We tried to get a team photo after the presentation and managed to corral some of the team. You’ve met several already, but Bennett Greenspan, Founder and President Emeritus of FamilyTreeDNA, is to my right as you look at the photo, with Sherman McRae standing between Bennett and Paul.

I particularly like this “generations” photo.

In the rear, Katherine Borges stands with Bennett Greenspan. Bennett obviously founded the company, and Katherine was one of the early administrators. Dr. Lior Rauchberger, CEO of myDNA, which includes FamilyTreeDNA, is seated at left, along with Alex Zawisza, CFO, at right. MyDNA purchased Gene by Gene, which includes FamilyTreeDNA, just over three years ago, and the team has continued to work together for the benefit of FamilyTreeDNA customers.

Lior traveled from Australia to attend RootsTech. He could be seen checking people out at the booth, so he had the opportunity to talk with customers. He said he heard the words “brick wall” more in those three days than ever before, as in, “Thanks to FamilyTreeDNA, I broke down my brick wall.”

We all owe Lior a huge debt of gratitude for his continued commitment to FamilyTreeDNA research, and in particular, the Big Y-700 tools, such as Discover, along with the Million Mito Project which will be released with a similar tool, MitoDiscover.

Thanks Lior!

I turned around to see Stephanie Gilbert, who gave the keynote at the FamilyTreeDNA conference.

Stephanie is an incredibly engaging speaker, and I’m going to recommend her to RootsTech for next year.

It was wonderful to see Schelly Talalay Dardashti, at left. She has worked for MyHeritage since 2006 and administers the Tracing the Tribe – Jewish Genealogy Facebook group, which has more than 73,000 members. Schelly is a wonderful ambassador, always helpful and incredibly knowledgeable.

Between us is Dana Stewart Leeds, creator of the Leeds Method, a technique that launched the autocluster craze by manually grouping matches. I wrote about the Leeds Method, here, in 2018. When you see AutoClusters at Genetic Affairs or the Collins-Leeds method at DNAGedcom, think of and thank Dana. They automated her process, with her permission, of course, creating some of the most useful tools available to genealogists. You can follow Dana here.

I swear, it was brainiac day at RootsTech!

Mags Gaulden, one of the founders of mitoYDNA and who writes at Grandma’s Genes, was working in the FamilyTreeDNA booth and was quite busy – so busy that I almost didn’t manage a picture with her. We never did get to have a meal together. We will have to do better in October when we are both scheduled to be at the East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference in person. Oops, did I say that out loud???

Save the dates!

GEDmatch – New AutoCluster Endogamy Tool

I’ve emailed back and forth with Tom Osypian with GEDmatch many times now, but I’ve never met him in person, even though we’ve been in the same place before.

This time, I was determined. Although Tom was busy several times when I stopped by the booth, there were fewer people on Saturday, so I stood a fighting chance.

Tom explained that GEDmatch has a new AutoCluster tool developed by Evert-Jan Blom at Genetic Affairs and Jarret Ross from GeneaVlogger that helps with unraveling endogamy. I told him that I already knew because we used my Mom’s autosomal results during testing. Mom is partly endogamous through her grandfather’s Acadian line.

The Acadian cluster in the upper left quadrant looks like an orange blob with no differentiation, where everyone is related to everyone else – because that’s truly how Acadian descendants are connected. As my Acadian cousin once said, “If you’re related to one Acadian, you’re related to all Acadians,” and it’s true.

Evert-Jan needed to optimize clusters for a partially endogamous person without negatively affecting their non-endogamous clusters.

He did a great job separating my Mom’s big orange blob endogamous cluster into these nice, neat mini-clusters.

To take a look, choose AutoCluster Endogamy on GEDmatch and make your preset selection.

There’s a YouTube video about this tool by GeneaVlogger, here.

Next I ran into Patricia Coleman, a fellow genealogist scientist, who wrote an excellent article about finding segment links to the opposite parent using AutoSegment AutoClusters, here. Check out her blog and published papers, here.

We are incredibly fortunate to have such dedicated researchers and scientists in our community.

Unfortunately, I was running out of time on the show floor.

Sisters of Heart

OK, now, I’m going to say something really sappy. Consider yourself warned.

By this time, I needed to find food and quickly eat before my session, which was scheduled to start at 1:15. This meant I needed to be in the room by 12:45.

Janine was doing consultations in the FamilyTreeDNA booth and couldn’t get away for food either.

Thankfully, with the storm approaching, there weren’t long lines at the food vendors. I peeked outside as I walked down the hallway looking for a food booth that wasn’t very busy.

It was ominously dark and gloomy outside, and had begun to snow.

I found the food stand that looked least bad and got in line. Neither Janine nor I knew what was available at the food vendors, but we’ve known each other for enough years and attended enough conferences that we kind of know what the other likes.

I was standing in line taking pictures of the menu and the pre-made foods in the cooler and messaging them to Janine. People must have wondered if I couldn’t find something better to take pictures of. I just chuckled. I’ll spare you the food pictures because they were unremarkable,

They were out of everything Janine thought looked good. Apparently, everyone else thought those items looked good, too. When it was my turn to order, and I had to choose, I messaged Janine that we were sharing a turkey wrap and asked if she wanted fruit.

“YES! Fruit sounds wonderful.”

Great!

I got both items and paid.

“So do chips. Chips sound great, too.”

Perfect.

I paid again.

Then I saw the muffins. Chocolate sour cream swirl muffins with large shiny sugar crystals baked on top.

No need to message Janine about this one.

Yep, I paid for the third time.

Then, I apologized to the people behind me, hoped they didn’t recognize me, and hurried back to the FamilyTreeDNA booth.

Janine’s customer had just finished up, so I sat down in that seat and spread out our goodies on the table between us. The turkey wrap was cut in half, and we shared half of everything.

I love breaking bread and sharing food with my favorite people. There’s something about feeding the body that nourishes the soul and bonds the heart. I can’t explain it, and I really wasn’t thinking about it just then. Both of us just needed a minute to relax and eat before rushing off to do something else.

I asked Janine if she wanted the last part of my half of the turkey wrap. She told me to take the turkey out and eat it because I needed the protein.

Bless her heart. She was right.

I grabbed two forks in the food booth, and we both ate out of the fruit box positioned halfway between us.

Then, after discussing and laughing that the muffin looked like a geode, I cut it into four sections. We ate them on the cupcake paper with forks, like cake. It tasted wonderful. If you’re thinking that I couldn’t finish my turkey wrap, but had plenty of room for chocolate cake, you’d be exactly right!

Someplace in the midst of our impromptu picnic meal, I realized that four years ago at RootsTech 2020, was the last time we would see each other – for years. A week after RootsTech, everything shut down. People died. Both of us had family members who perished in the Covid epidemic.

Everyone was traumatized.

Neither of us knew if we’d ever see each other again, but neither of us verbalized that because – well – we just couldn’t. Some days during that time, it was all any of us could do to simply hold it together.

I realized just how important these very relaxed impromptu moments, built on years of shared space and breaking bread together, really are. It’s exactly why we don’t have any old photos of “normal” things, just special occasions. Normal isn’t special, until it is – when someone is suddenly gone. Then, “normal” is everything.

None of us know which meal together will be the last. We never know when our number will be called, or how. We really only ever have today.

I wish someone had taken a picture of us smiling and eating, sharing our meal with each other, something we’ve done countless times before. Something so normal that we don’t even think about it. I never thought about taking a picture of something so routine, and neither did anyone else. Why would they?

Regardless, that moment is burned into my memory, along with just how precious our time together is.

Then, the moment of quiet respite, eating chocolate muffins and sharing more than food, was over, and the fragile thought bubble was broken by the ticking of the clock. I had to jump up and run off to my next presentation, and a customer approached and asked Janine a question.

Thank Goodness we were both able to return to RootsTech and relish something so absolutely normal once again.

Highways of History – Flesh Out Your Ancestors Using Discover Case Studies

My class on Friday, “DNA Academy,” was full, and sadly, people were being turned away at the door. Saturday’s “Highways of History” class was held in a larger room, but many people stayed home, so the room was only about three-quarters full. I forgot to ask someone to take a picture, so I’ll just share a few slides.

I really enjoy using AI occasionally for images. This was ChatGPTs idea of Highways of History.

Using Big Y DNA results, I provided examples of using the Discover tools to reveal the stories of my ancestors. Not every Discover tool reveals something amazing about each ancestor, but together, they tell a story we can’t unravel any other way.

I seek out men who descend from every male ancestor paternally through all males and offer a scholarship for Big Y-700 testing.

Here are just a few examples of what I’ve found and documented:

  • A descendant of Etienne Hebert (c1626-c1670), my Acadian ancestor, matches an ancient DNA burial found in Metz, France. Etienne and his brother’s children cluster in a group with a common ancestor about 1650, and the ancient burial dates to about the year 500 CE during the time that Metz was a Gallo Celtic Village. Among other things, we learn that their common ancestors were Celtic.

  • An adopted male matches several Estes men. Based on his Big Y-700 mutations, I can place him in the Estes family tree within two generations. His position in the tree is confirmed by autosomal matches to the ancestors of the wife of Joseph Frank Estes. Autosomal matches confirmed the Big Y-700.

  • Germain Doucet, born in France in the late 1500s, had two sons. One was born in France about 1621, and the second in Acadia (now Nova Scotia) was born to either a second or third wife in 1641 and named after Germain. Based on Big Y-700 tests, the son born in 1621 has a European haplogroup, but Germain, born in 1641, has a Native American father, suggesting the possibility that he may have been adopted by the older Germain Doucet. This was quite an unexpected surprise.

  • A Bowling descendant of Hugh Bowling (1591-1651) born in Chorley, Lancashire, England, had almost no English matches. STR matches are from Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Cyprus, Germany, and Portugal, but the highest percentage are from Spain. Furthermore, his ancient Connections are from Hungary, Israel (4), Armenia, Rome, Italy, Turkey, Lebanon, Lincolnshire, and Norwich, England. Local history reveals a Roman Fort just 19 miles away from where Hugh Bowling lived, and the location, now excavated, was a settlement location for Roman Sarmatian soldiers.

  • Thomas Speak was born about 1634 in Downham, Lancashire, near Chorley, England where the family attended church. Big Y-700 testing shows that he and other English Speak men still living in the area share an ancestor about 1300 CE. When we visited in 2012, we discovered that Myles Standish’s family also attended the same church. Saxon Crosses are found in the graveyard outside, dating to circa 800-900 CE. A Standish male’s Big Y-700 test matches the Speak men, with their common ancestor dating to 850 CE, the same time that the Saxons were settling the region.

  • Bennett Greenspan’s Jewish ancestors were found in Ukraine in the mid-1700s, but he wanted to know more about where they came from originally. Were they Ashkenazi or Sephardic, or something else? By upgrading both close and distant matches to the Big Y-700, Bennett discovered that their common ancestors were in Spain in the year 296 when the two lines diverged and his line left. You can read Bennett’s story in more detail, here.

None of these mysteries or brick walls could have been solved without Big Y-700 tests and without the Discover tools.

This session was so much fun, and I can hardly wait to find more male ancestors and test their direct male-line descendants.

Goodbyes

By the time questions were answered, and I packed up my equipment, there were only about 15 minutes left until the Expo Hall closed at 3. Furthermore, I needed to retrieve my coat from the FamilyTreeDNA booth, retrieve my suitcase from the Marriott bellman, and order an Uber. My flight was only about two and a half hours away, assuming it left.

So far, it hadn’t been cancelled or delayed.

I mentioned my flight concerns to a colleague that I ran into on the way to the booth. He happens to live in Salt Lake City and gave me his phone number, with instructions to call if I got stranded.

My first (unspoken) thought was, “Thank you, but I’d never impose like that.” But then, I realized that was crazy and I really should call him if I needed help. What was wrong with me? I didn’t know him well, but I had known him and the company where he works for many years and felt completely safe. We are Facebook friends too, so I’ve joyfully watched him marry and start a family. I would have done exactly the same for him, and yes, I absolutely WOULD have wanted him to call. Plus, if I actually did wind up staying on his couch for a day or so, I would get time to “Grandma” his children, so HUGE BONUS!

You know who you are, and THANK YOU. I felt so much better after that. Genealogists are just the most amazing people!

Then, I ran into Lisa Rhea Baker who very generously gifted me with bracelets made by her veteran daughter as she healed from surgery. The bracelets around my wrist are beaded, and the one joining our hands is knotted in German colors. I’m wearing that one today. What a very talented and generous young lady.

I was very touched and so grateful. I asked her to thank her daughter on my behalf.

I saw Katherine Borges again in the booth as I was retrieving my coat and we quickly took a selfie. Neither of us realized we hadn’t gotten one earlier, although we did manage to have dinner with a small group where we all chattered like magpies.

Last, Goran, Paul and I took a quick selfie as I was preparing to run out the door. It was 3, closing time, and almost no one was left in the Expo Hall. I knew if I missed this flight, I’d not get another one. Everything was full.

I surely miss seeing these guys. Hopefully, I’ll see them again before the next RootsTech!

The Blizzard Strikes

I stepped outside.

The blizzard had begun in earnest. I could see a couple blocks down the street, but huge flakes of snow were pouring down. The wind was blowing viciously, whipping everything, making it difficult to hang onto my laptop rolling bag. The snow was sticking to everything.

At least it wasn’t slick yet, at least not where I was walking. If the wind hadn’t been so strong, it would have been pretty.

Would the plane be able to take off in this wind? The snow was blowing directly sideways now.

The only distance I had to walk was across the street. This is how much snow accumulated on my coat in just a minute or so.

A little later, Goran took this picture.

Ubers were becoming somewhat scarce, so two of us shared and made it to the airport in time for long TSA lines.

The plane was about 45 minutes late, which didn’t surprise me. I heaved a huge sigh of relief when it pulled up to the gate. At least it arrived, and as soon as it was cleaned a bit, we began to board.

Eventually, we pulled out of the gate and began waiting on the tarmac for the plane to be de-iced.

An hour later, we weren’t even halfway to the front of the line. The pilot estimated it would be another 90 minutes or so.

The snow continued to accumulate.

Would the pilot and crew time out and be unable to fly?

If we had to go back, there would be no prayer of getting another crew. Flights were already being canceled.

The woman beside me was ill. I felt awful for her, and it occurred to me that this might also be a reason to return to the gate.

At least the pilot allowed us to unbuckle our seatbelts and go to the restroom as we waited.

My flight had been scheduled to arrive just after midnight. But now, we were more than four hours late. What time would we get in? My poor husband. I told him to go to sleep and I’d just stay in the hotel in the airport. He said no, nothing doing.

I begged him to at least take a nap and recheck the flights at 3 or 4 AM.

The flight was extremely rough. We couldn’t get above or around the storm, and the seatbelt sign was only off for about 10 minutes during the entire flight.

I tried to sleep, but that wasn’t happening, even though I was beyond exhausted.

This is what love looks like. One single car in the cell lot at around 5 AM, as Jim waited patiently for me.

On the way home, in fact, all of the way home, we drove through the most incredible lightning storm I’ve ever seen.

It was someplace between worrisome/terrifying, and fascinating.

This lightning wasn’t reaching toward the earth in bolts. Instead, the entire sky lit up like daylight, horizon to horizon, flashing like an extremely bright strobe. It was so bright that, at times, it was nearly blinding, and the clouds looked like rainbows as the lightning flashed behind and through them. I had never seen anything like this.

This type of “sheet lightning” is crazy rare. Thankfully, it kept us awake and was stunningly beautiful in a very strange, ethereal way. We worried that we would be caught in a hellacious storm and unable to see in the downpour.

Florida is notorious for vicious storms and torrential downpours. It’s also the lightning strike capital of the US and ranks fourth in the world. This area, in particular, is known as Lightning Alley. Our house was struck last year.

As we exited the expressway, just a couple miles from home, the sky unzipped, and torrential rains began. Thankfully, we were spared for most of the drive.

I was incredibly glad to finally be home and hoped that others had been able to either escape the Utah storm or find a room in a hotel that did not lose power on Sunday. Reports said wind gusts in the Utah mountains were measured at 165 miles an hour, but Salt Lake City, tucked into a valley, was spared most of that.

What an incredible week in so very many ways.

I hope you enjoyed coming along with me. Dates have already been announced for RootsTech 2025.

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Pedigree Collapse and DNA – Plus an Easy-Peasy Shortcut

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Pedigree collapse can be responsible for you sharing more DNA than expected with another person.

What is pedigree collapse?

Pedigree collapse occurs when you descend from the same ancestor(s) through more than one path. In other words, you descend from those ancestors through two different children. Therefore, when matching with someone else who descends through those ancestors, you may share more DNA than would be expected from that level of relationship on the surface, meaning without pedigree collapse.

Endogamy is different and means that you descend from a community of ancestors who descend from the same group of ancestors. Often out-marriage is discouraged or otherwise impossible, so all of the group of people share common ancestors, which means they often match on segments without sharing close ancestors. Examples of descent from endogamous populations are Jewish, Amish, Brethren, Acadian, Native Hawaiian, Māori, and Native American people, among others.

I wrote about the difference between pedigree collapse and endogamy in the article, What’s the Difference Between Pedigree Collapse and Endogamy?

I’ve also written about endogamy in the following articles:

Degrees of Consanguinity

If you’re a genealogist, and especially if you’ve worked with Catholic church records, you’ve probably heard of “degrees of sanguinity,” which are prohibited blood relationships in marriage. For example, siblings are prohibited from marrying because they are too closely related, according to church doctrine.

By SVG remake by WClarke based on original by User:Sg647112c – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54804980

Today, we think of the genetic results of inbreeding, but originally, relationships (and consanguinity) also had to do with inheritance.

Essentially, marriages are prohibited by degree of sanguinity, and that degree is calculated based on this relationship chart. Prohibited degrees of consanguinity changed over time. Sometimes, a priest granted dispensation for a couple to wed who was of a prohibited degree of sanguinity. That’s a genealogy goldmine because it tells you where to look for common ancestors. It also tells you something else – that you may share more DNA with other descendants of that couple than one would otherwise expect.

More Than You Ever Expected

Recently, I’ve been working with an academic research team on a very interesting ancient DNA case that involves pedigree collapse. Doing the genealogy and genetic work on how much DNA was expected in a match without pedigree collapse, and how much was expected with pedigree collapse, was very interesting.

The team was working to confirm relationships between people in a cemetery. The burials shared more DNA than anticipated for who the people were believed to be. Enter pedigree collapse.

I can’t disclose the circumstances just yet – but I will as soon as possible. It’s an extremely interesting story.

We needed to ensure that readers, both academic and more generally understood pedigree collapse and our calculations. Why did burials share higher than expected DNA than indicated by the expected relationships? This puzzle becomes much more interesting when you add in pedigree collapse.

Academic researchers and scientists have access to models and mathematical algorithms that normal air-breathing humans don’t have easy access to.
So, what do you do if you and a match have a known pedigree collapse in your tree? How much DNA can you expect to share, and how do you calculate that?

These are all great questions, so let’s take a look.

I’m sharing the PowerPoint slides I prepared for our team on this topic. I’ve removed anything that would identify or even hint at the project and modified the slides slightly for easier consumption.

This presentation has never been given publicly, so you’re first! It seemed a waste to do this work and not share it!

Pedigree Collapse and DNA

Pedigree collapse occurs when you share an ancestor or ancestors through different pathways. In this case, the person at the bottom is the child of parents who were third cousins, but the father’s grandparents were also first cousins.

First cousin marriages were common in the not-too-distant past. Today, you could easily marry your third or fourth cousin and not even realize it unless someone in your family just happened to be a genealogist.

Genealogists use various tools to calculate the expected amount of shared DNA in relationships – first cousins, siblings, or half-siblings, for example. Both the Shared cM Project at DNAPainter and SegcM at DNA-Sci Tools provide tools.

Take a look at the article, DNA: In Search of…Full and Half-Siblings, for some great examples.

First cousins share common grandparents. Their child inherits DNA from two paths that lead back to the same ancestors. Some of that DNA will be the same, meaning the child will or can inherit the same ancestral segment from both parents, and some will be different segments from those ancestors that the parents do not share with each other.

Inheritance – How It Works

Let’s look at inheritance to see how this happens.

Let’s start with full and half-siblings.

Each child inherits half of their DNA from each parent, but not entirely the same half (unless they are identical twins.)

Therefore, full siblings will match on about 50% of their DNA, which is illustrated by the segments on the chromosome browser. However, and this will be important in a minute, about 25% of their DNA is exactly the same, when compared to each other, on the chromosome inherited from their father and mother at the same location.

On the chromosome browser, you can see that three siblings do match. One sibling (the grey background chromosomes) is the person both other full siblings are being compared to, in the example above.

What you can’t determine is whether they share the exact same DNA on both their mother and father’s Chromosome 1, where the matches overlap, for example. We know they both match their sibling, but the top person could match the sibling due to a match from their paternal chromosome in that location, and the bottom person could match due to their maternal chromosome. There’s no way to know, at least not from that view.

The areas where the siblings share exactly the same DNA on both their maternal and paternal chromosome, both, with each other are called Fully Identical REgions (FIR), as compared to Half Identical Regions (HIR) where the siblings match on either their maternal or paternal copy of the chromosome, but not both.

23andMe used to provide a tool that displayed both types of matches.

Since the data exposure incident at 23andMe, they no longer provide this lovely tool, and since that help page is now gone as well, I doubt this view will ever be returned. Fortunately, I grabbed a screenshot previously.

The dark purple segments are fully identical, meaning that these two full siblings match on both their maternal and paternal chromosomes in that location. The magenta are half identical, which means they match on EITHER the maternal or paternal chromosome in that location but not on both chromosomes. Of course, no color (light grey) means there is no match at that location.

Please note that because 23andMe counts fully identical regions (FIR) twice, their total matching cMs are elevated. The other companies do NOT count those regions twice.
GEDmatch also shows both full and half-identical regions as described more fully, here.

In this full-sibling example from GEDmatch, the green segments are fully identical regions across both the maternal and paternal chromosomes.

The definition of FIR is that two people match on both their mother’s and father’s DNA on the same chromosome. Therefore, in following generations, there technically should not be FIR matches, but in some instances we do find FIR matches outside of full siblings.

Moving down another generation, first cousins may share SOME fully identical DNA, especially if they are from an endogamous population or their mothers are related, but less, and it’s generally scattered.

Here’s my Mom’s GEDmatch comparison to her first cousin. The purple-legend segment shows a match, and the green within that match shows fully identical locations.

You can easily see that these are very scattered, probably representing “chance” or population-based fully identical matching locations within a segment. Comparatively, the green FIR segments for full siblings are dense and compact, indicating a segment that is fully identical.

Evaluating matches for dense FIR segments (known as runs of homozygosity – ROH) is a good indicator of parental relatedness.

Double Cousins

Of course, if these people were double first cousins, where the wives of the siblings were sisters to each other – the first cousins would have large patches of dense green FIR segments.

First cousins share grandparents.

Double first cousins occur when two people share both sets of grandparents, meaning that brothers marry sisters. Normal first cousins share about 12.5% of their DNA, but double first cousins share about 25% of their DNA.

In this case, Sharon and Donna descend from two brothers, James and Henry, who were sons of Joseph and Jane. In this scenario, James and Henry married unrelated women, so Sharon and Donna are first cousins to each other.

Double first cousins share both sets of grandparents so they would inherit FIR from both sets of siblings.

You need to be aware of this, but for now, let’s stick with non-double relationships. You’re welcome!

DNA Inheritance

Here’s a different example of DNA inheritance between two siblings.

  1. You can see that in the first 50 cM segment, both siblings inherited the same DNA from both parents, so they match on both their mother’s and father’s chromosomes. They match on both the 50 cM green and 50 cM pink segments. 23andMe would count that as 100 cMs, but other vendors only count a segment IF it matches, NOT if it matches twice. So, other vendors count this as a 50 cM match.
  2. In column two, these two people don’t match at all because they inherited different DNA from each parent. In this example, Person 1 inherited their maternal grandmother’s segment, and Person 2 inherited their maternal grandfather’s segment.
  3. In column three, our siblings match on their paternal grandmother’s segment.
  4. In column four, no match again.

How much can we expect to inherit at different levels – on average?

Different tools differ slightly, and all tools provide ranges. In our example, I’ve labeled the generations and how much shared DNA we would expect – WITHOUT pedigree collapse.

Ancestral couple Inherited cM Inherited %
Gen 1 – Their children 3500 cM 50
Gen 2 – Grandchildren 1750 cM 25
Gen 3 – Great-Grandchildren 875 cM 12.5
Gen 4 – GG-Grandchildren 437.5 6.25
Gen 5 – GGG-Grandchildren 218.75 3.125
Gen 6 – GGGG-Grandchildren 109.375 1.5625
Gen 7 – GGGG-Grandchildren 54.6875 .078125

Please note that this is inherited DNA, not shared (matching) DNA with another person.

Adding in pedigree collapse, you can see that we have three Gen 1 people involved, three Gen 2 descendants, and two Gen 3 and Gen 4 people.

Each of those people inherit and pass on segments from our original couple at the top.
We have three distinct inheritance paths leading from our original couple to Gen 5.
We have a first cousin marriage at Gen 2, at left, which means that their child, Gen 3, will have an elevated amount of the DNA of their common ancestors.

In Gen 4, two people marry who both descend from a common couple, meaning their child, Gen 5, descends from that couple in three different ways.

Did your eyes just glaze over? Well, mine did, too, which is why I had to draw all of this out on paper before putting it into PowerPoint.

The Gen 5 child inherits DNA from the ancestral couple via three pathways.
The next thing to keep in mind is that just because you inherit the DNA from an ancestor does not mean you match another descendant. Inheritance is not matching.

You must inherit before you can match, but just because you and someone else have inherited a DNA segment from a common ancestor does not guarantee a match. Those segments could be in different locations.

Categories of DNA

When dealing with inheritance and descent, we discuss four categories of DNA.

  • In the first generation, full siblings will, in about 25% of their locations, share the same DNA that has been inherited from both parents on the same chromosome. In other words, they match each other both maternally and paternally at that location. Those are FIR.
  • The DNA you inherit from an ancestor.
  • The DNA that both you and your cousin(s) inherit from a common ancestor and match on the same location. This is shared DNA.
  • The DNA that both you and your cousin(s) inherit from a common ancestor, but it’s not in the same location, so you do not match each other on that segment. Just because you inherit DNA from that ancestor does not necessarily mean that your cousin has the same DNA from that ancestor. This is inherited but not shared.

Inheritance is Not The Same as Matching

Inheritance is not the same thing as matching.

Inheriting our ancestor’s DNA isn’t enough. We need to match someone else who inherited that same segment in order to attribute the segment to that specific ancestor.

Depending on how close or distant the relationship, two people may share a lot of DNA (like full siblings), or one segment in more distant matches, or sometimes none at all. As we reach further back in time, we inherit less and less of our increasingly distant ancestors’ DNA, which means we match increasingly fewer of their descendants. I wrote about determining ancestral percentages in the article,  Ancestral Percentages – How Much of Them is in You?

Based on how much DNA we share with other known relatives, we can estimate relationships.

Pedigree collapse, where one descends from common ancestors more than once, increases the expected amount of inherited DNA, which in turn increases the probability of a shared match with other descendants.

Ancestral Couple Matching Between Shared DNA ~cM Shared DNA ~% Range (Shared cM Project) FIR – Identical DNA
Generation 1 Full Siblings 2600 50 1613-3488 25%
Generation 2 First Cousins 866 12.5 396-1397 0
Generation 3 Second Cousins 229 3.125 41-592 0
Generation 4 Third Cousins 73 0.78125 0-234 0

Here’s an example through third cousins, including expected FIR, fully identical regions where full siblings match each other on both their maternal and paternal chromosomes in the same location.

I provided a larger summary chart incorporating the information from public sources, here, minus FIR.

Of course, double cousins, where two pairs of siblings marry each other, represent another separate level of complexity. DNA-Sci’s Double Cousin Orogen explains this here and also provides a tool.

Double cousins, meaning when two pairs of siblings marry each other, are different from doubly related.

Doubly related means that two people descend from common ancestors through multiple paths, meaning multiple lines of descent. Doubly related is pedigree collapse. Double cousins is pedigree collapse on steroids.

Pedigree Collapse, aka Doubly Related

Calculating expected inherited DNA from multiple lines of descent is a bit more challenging.

A handy-dandy chart isn’t going to help with multiple relationships because the amount of expected shared DNA is based on the number of and distance of relationships.

Please note that this discussion excludes X-DNA matching which has its own inheritance path.

It’s time for math – but I promise I’ll make this relatively easy – pardon the pun.

What’s Behind the Math?

So, here’s the deal. I want you to understand why and how this works. You may not need this information today, but eventually, you probably will. This is one of those “refer back to it” articles for your personal library. Read this once as a conceptual overview, then read it again if you need to work through the relationships.

This is easy if you take it one step at a time.

First, we calculate each path separately.

In the first generation, full siblings inherit identical (FIR) DNA on both their mother’s and father’s chromosomes.

In the second generation, the male inherits the maternal segment, and the female inherits the paternal segment.

In the third generation, their child inherits those segments intact from both of their parents. The child inherits from the ancestral couple twice – once through each parent.

In generation 1, those two segments were FIR, fully identical regions. Both of those men married unrelated wives. When their children, Gen 2, were born, they had either the maternal or paternal segment from their father because they had an entirely different segment in that location from their mother.

However, the child in Gen 3 inherited the original green segment from their father and the original pink segment from their mother – reuniting those FIR segments in later generations.

First Cousin’s Child

Let’s calculate the inheritance for the child of those two first cousins who married.

Ancestral couple Inherited cM Inherited %
Gen 3 – Great-Grandchildren 875 cM 12.5
Gen 3 – Great-Grandchildren 875 cM 12.5
Total 1750 cM 25

Normally, a Gen 3 person inherits roughly 875 cM, or 12.5% of their great-grandparent’s DNA. However, since their grandparents were first cousins, they inherit about twice that amount, or 1750 cM.

While a Gen 3 person inherits as much as a grandchild (25%) normally would from the original couple, they won’t match on all of that DNA. When matching, we need to subtract some of that DNA out of the equation for two reasons:

  • In the first generation, between siblings, some of their DNA was fully identical and cannot be identified as such.
  • In the second generation, they will each have some parts of the ancestral couple’s DNA that will not match the other person. So, they inherit the same amounts from their common ancestors, but they can only be expected to match on about 25% of that amount two generations later.

However, the child of first cousins who marry inherits more DNA of the common ancestors than they would if their parents weren’t related. It’s just that some of that DNA is the same, potentially on the maternal and paternal chromosomes again, and some won’t match at all.

While matching DNA is the whole point of autosomal DNA testing, fully identical DNA matching regions (FIR) cannot be identified that way. For the most part, other than identifying full and half-siblings, sometimes pedigree collapse, and parent-relatedness, fully identical DNA isn’t terribly useful for genealogy. However, we still need to understand how this works.

It’s OK if you just want to say, “I know we’ll share more DNA due to pedigree collapse,” but if you want to know how much more to expect, keep reading. I’d really like for you to understand use cases and be able to track those segments.

Remember, we will learn a super-easy shortcut at the end, so for now, just read. It’s important to understand why the shortcut works.

Sibling Inheritance Versus Matching

In order to compare apples to apples, sometimes we need to remove some portion of DNA in our calculations.

Remember story problems where you had to “show your work”?

Calculating Expected DNA

Here’s the step-by-step logic.

Ancestral couple Inherited Non-Identical cM Inherited %
Gen 1 first son 3500 50
Gen 1 second son 3500 50
Less identical segments (FIR) -1750 (subtracted from one child for illustration) 25
Gen 2 son 1750 25
Gen 2 daughter married Gen 2 son 875 12.5
Gen 3 – Their child path through Gen 2 son 875 cM 12.5
Gen 3 – Their child path through Gen 2 mother 437.5 cM 6.25
Their child total without removing identical segments 1750 cM 25
Their child total after removing identical segments 1312.5 18.75

Category cMs Most Probable Degree Relationship
No Pedigree Collapse 875 98% Great grandparent or great-grandchild, great or half aunt/uncle, great or half niece/nephew, 1C 3
Pedigree Collapse without identical segment removal 1750 100% Grandparent, grandchild, aunt/uncle, half-sibling, niece/nephew 2
Pedigree Collapse after identical segment removal 1312.5 56% grandparent, grandchild, aunt/uncle, niece/nephew, half-sibling 2

Just because you HAVE this much shared (and/or identical) DNA doesn’t mean you’ll match on that DNA.

Next, let’s look at Gen 5 child who inherited three ways from the ancestors.

If you think, “This will never happen,” remember that it did, which is why I was working through this story problem. It’s not uncommon for families to live in the same area for generations. You married who you saw – generally, your family and neighbors, who were likely also family.

Let’s take a look at that 5th generation child.

The more distantly related, the less pedigree collapse affects matching DNA. That’s not to say we can ignore it.

Here’s our work product. See, this isn’t difficult when you take it step by step, one at a time.

Ancestral couple Inherited Non-Identical cM Inherited %
Gen 3 Child total after removing identical segments 1312.5 18.75
Gen 4 father – half of Gen 3 father 656.25 9.375
Gen 5 child – half of Gen 4 father 328.125 4.6875
Gen 5 child – mother’s side calculated from ancestral couple normally 218.75 3.125
Total for Gen 5 Child 546.875 7.8125

Inheritance Ranges

Lots of factors can affect how much DNA a person in any given generation inherits from an ancestor. The same is true with multiple paths from that same ancestor. How do we calculate multiple path inheritance ranges?

As with any relationship, we find a range, or combined set of ranges for Gen 5 Child based on the multiple pathways back to the common ancestors.

Gen 5 Child Inherited Non-Identical cM Inherited %
Without removing either paternal or maternal identical cMs 656.25 9.375
After removing paternal identical cMs only 546.875 7.8125

 
After removing maternal cMs only 546.875 7.8125

 
After removing both paternal and maternal identical cMs 362.50 6.25
Normal Gen 5 no pedigree collapse 218 3.125

What About Matching?

Inheritance and matching are different. Most of the time, two people are unlikely to share all of the DNA they inherited from a particular ancestor. Of course, inheriting through multiple paths increases the likelihood that at least some DNA from that ancestor is preserved and that it’s shared with other descendants.

Two people aren’t expected to match on all of the segments of DNA that they inherit from a particular ancestor. The closer in time the relationship, the more segments they will inherit from that ancestor, which increases the chances of matching on at least one or some segments.

Clearly, pedigree collapse affects matching. It’s most pronounced in closer relationships, but it may also be the only thing that has preserved that ONE matching segment in a more distant relationship.

So, how does pedigree collapse actually affect the likelihood of matching? What can we actually expect to see? Is there a name for this and a mathematical model to assist with calculations?

I’m so glad you asked! It’s called Coefficient of Relationship.

Coefficent of Relationship

My colleague, Diahan Southard, a scientist who writes at YourDNAGuide has authored two wonderful articles about calculating the statistical effects of pedigree collapse.

You can also read another article about the methodology of calculating coefficient of relationship, here, on WaybackMachine.

Diahan is a math whiz. I’m not, so I needed to devise something “quick and dirty” for my own personal use. I promised you a “cheat sheet,” so here’s the methodology.

Two Inheritance Paths – First and Third Cousins

Let’s look at an example where two people are both first cousins and third cousins because their grandparents were also first cousins.

Let’s calculate how these two people are related. They are first cousins and also third cousins.

When calculating the effects of pedigree collapse, we calculate the first relationship normally, then calculate the second relationship and add a portion of the result.

Here’s the math.

Using the Shared cM Project for the expected amount of shared DNA for both relationships, we’ve calculated the expected range for this pedigree collapse relationship.

Tying this back to degrees of relatedness.

Let’s look at ways to do Quick Calculations using the publicly available Shared cM charts and my composite tables, here.

Using Average Shared DNA

This first methodology uses average expected amount of shared, meaning matching, DNA. Please note, I’m not necessarily expecting you to DO this now, just read to follow.

Using Average Inherited DNA

Here’s a second method using average inherited DNA, meaning people wouldn’t be expected to match on all of the inherited DNA – just a portion.

You can’t always use the shared cM charts because all relationships aren’t represented, so you may need to use the amount of expected inherited DNA instead of shared DNA amounts.

Methodology Differences

Remember, none of these methodologies are foolproof because DNA inheritance is random. You may also have additional relationships that you’re aware of.

So, what’s the easiest method? Neither, actually. I’ve found an even easier method based on these proven methodologies.

Easy-Peasy Pedigree Collapse Shortcut Range Calculation in 4 Steps

Now that you understand the science and reasoning behind all of this, you can choose from multiple calculation methodologies after drawing a picture of the relevant tree.

You’re probably wondering, “What’s the easiest way to do this?”

  • These quick calculation methods are the easiest to work with for non-scientists and non-math whizzes. These are the calculations I use because, taking into account random recombination, you can’t do any better than get close.
  • Also, remember, if you’re dealing with double relationships, meaning double first cousins, you’ll need to take that into consideration, too.
  • If endogamy is involved, your matches will be higher yet, and you should use the highest calculations below because you need to be on the highest end of the range – and that may still not be high enough.

In these Easy-Peasy calculations, you calculate for the lowest, then the highest, and that’s your range. Please note that these are options, and truly, one size does not fit all.

  1. For the lowest end of the range, simply use the average of the highest relationship. In this case, that would be 1C, which is 866 cM. Remember that you may not share DNA with third cousins. 10% of third cousins don’t share any DNA, and 50% of fourth cousins don’t.
  2. For the highest end of the range, find the second relationship in the Shared cM chart, divide the average by half, and add to the value from the closest relationship. In this case, half of the 3C value of 76 is 38.
  3. Add 38 to 866 for the highest end of the range of 904.
  4. If there’s yet another path to ANY shared ancestor, add half that amount too to calculate the high end of the range – unless it’s 4C or more distant, then don’t add anything.

You can see that this easy-peasy range calculation for pedigree collapse compares very well to the more complex but still easy calculations.

  • Easy-peasy calculation: 866-904
  • Other calculation methods: 850-903
  • For this same relationship combination, Diahan’s statistical calculation was 850 cM.

Back to Genealogy

What’s the short story about how pedigree collapse affects genealogy?

Essentially, in close generations, meaning within a few generations of two first cousins marrying, descendants can expect to inherit and share significantly more DNA of the common ancestors, but not double the amount. As we move further away from those marriages in time, the effect becomes less pronounced and more difficult to detect. You can see that effect when calculating multiple paths where at the fourth cousin level, or more distant, those cousins have a 50% or greater possibility of not sharing DNA segments.

Of course, with multiple paths to the same ancestor, your chances of inheriting at least some segments from the common ancestor are increased because their DNA descends through multiple paths.

Today, close marriages are much less common and have been for several generations in many cultures, so we see fewer instances where pedigree collapse makes a significant difference.

Within a population or group of people, if pedigree collapse becomes common, meaning that there are multiple paths leading back to common ancestors, like our three-path example, DNA segments from the common ancestors are found among many people. Significant pedigree collapse becomes endogamy, especially if marriage outside of the group is difficult, impossible, or discouraged.

Normally, pedigree collapse is not recorded in actual records. It’s left to genealogists to discover those connections.

The exception, of course, is those wonderful Catholic parish records where the priest granted dispensations. Sometimes, that’s our only hint to earlier genealogy. In the case of the marriage of Marie-Josesphe LePrince to Jacques Forest, the priest wrote “dispense 3-3 consanguinity,” which tells us that they shared great-grandparents. It also tells us that their grandparents were siblings, that the bride and groom were second cousins, and that their children and descendants inherited an extra dose of DNA from their common great-grandparents.

How does that affect me today? Given that I’m their seventh-generation descendant – probably not at all. Of course, they are Acadian, and the Acadians are highly endogamous, which means I match many Acadians because all Acadians share the DNA of just a few founders, making it almost impossible to track segments to any particular ancestor. If it weren’t for endogamy, I would probably match few, if any, of their descendants.

Now, when you see those Catholic church dispensations or otherwise discover pedigree collapse, you can be really excited, because you understand the effects of pedigree collapse and how to calculate resulting matches! You might, just might, have retained a DNA segment from those ancestors because you inherited segments through multiple paths – increasing the probability that one survived.

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